Gajeel's school of Magic
by LaurenRoover
Summary: Gajeel takes on a job that involves teaching magic to kids at a magic school in a far off land. Magic is very unknown and most of all not taken seriously, but is Gajeel able to change that? Will the students be able to cope with professor Redfox? And will he be able to cope with a bunch of teenagers? Updated every Wednesday!
1. Chapter 1: Meet professor Redfox

_Chapter 1: Meet professor Redfox_

 **Name: Kuchiha Rikugo**

 **Age: 22**

 **Occupation: Headmaster's assistant at MSM(Merlin's school of Magic)**

Today was my first day as Headmaster Kubo's assistant. A very exciting day, yet exhausting. I hadn't slept at all, missed my good morning-tea and forgot to bring lunch, meaning I have to eat in the canteen of the school, meaning it'll be gross.

My first assignment for the day was to meet the new substitute teacher for Magic Practice 101 and show him around. Well, I guess I'll have to say 'magic'. This may be a school for gifted children, but magic is a big word.

I was supposed to meet a certain mister Redfox at eleven o'clock at the entrance of the school. I was there at 10.55. I was still there at 11.30. But no mister Redfox, which started to annoy me.

I could understand that it might take a while to get here, since the school's placed in the middle of nowhere. The train station is in town, which is an half hour drive from here. Kubo-sensei told me this teacher is also from a far off land, where the art of magic is practiced by at least 75% of its population. What kind of magic he wouldn't say. I tried googling it, but even the magic of the internet couldn't help me. Nor did I get any results on the name 'Gajeel Redfox' in association with the keyword 'magic'. No identity either. Kubo-sensei said he'd talked to this person on the phone, but that doesn't really help me either.

Finally, at 11.45, I could see a shadow approaching between the trees. The school is placed in a forest, and going by Kubo-sensei's words it's too 'help the students gather their magic'. Yeah right.

As the shadow came closer, I could see that his man was most certainly anything but a teacher; long black hair, big arms and a wide chest, gloves with iron knuckles, big hiking boots, and most disturbing of all, he had piercings on his face, covering his nose and, oh lord, forming his eyebrows. When he got even closer, I noticed that his eyes had an unusual red colour, and his pupil had a form similar to a snake's.

It seemed as if he came rolling out of a bar fight, his face covered in scratches and his arms bruised, although he didn't seem bothered by it. I was, actually.

This being my first real job after finishing college, I tried to be as professional as possible for my lack of experience. With my brightest smile on my face I waited till the strange man stood in hearing range.

"Sir, can I help you?" I don't remember my voice being this high pitched.

The large man looked at me without moving his head, lifting one eyebrow. "Eh?"

A little confused and most definitely intimidated by the large muscular man, I cleared my throat nervously and tried again. "Are you looking for someone? Maybe I can help."

The man crossed his arms, looking at the large building behind me. "I'm looking for Merlin's school of Magic. I'm here for the job."

I blinked. "I-I'm sorry, come again?"

The man now turned his head to look right at me. "There was a job request for teaching magic at a magic school."

It can't be. There has to be a mistake. There's no way Kubo-sensei lets people like him teach children about…'magic'. Well, now that I think about it…he fits in well with all these 'gifted' children. Better have all the weirdos in one place.

"Might you be mister Redfox, sir?"

To my surprise, a smile appeared on the face of the man. What's even more surprising were the row of sharp teeth that appeared, yet his smile didn't look evil at all. Rather amused. "Gehe. Mister Redfox, huh? I like the sound of that."

A little more at ease, I held out my hand. "I take that as a yes. My name is Kuchiha, Kubo-sensei's assistant. I'll be your guide for today, classes start tomorrow."

Mister Redfox looked at me hand, and I'm afraid he'll leave it hanging. Eventually, he shook it, to my relief. I nodded.

"Well then, I'll take you to Kubo-sensei's office, so you can discuss terms and conditions, as we speak."

 **Name: Samdy Janz**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C**

"Cut it out, Sam!"

I chuckled. "What? I didn't do anything."

Sasha turned around in her chair, not amused at all. "I know you're messing with my hair again."

"Am not" I said, with my best innocent face I could do. Next to me, Ibisan tried not to die while laughing as I turned more and more hair of Sasha's into elastic strings. The brown haired girl squinted her eyes, staring at Ibisan, who did another desperate effort not to choke in his own giggling. I grinned at Sasha, who kept staring at me. Suddenly, her mouth curled into a smile, and I knew something was not right.

"What? Is there something wrong?" she asked. She leaned forward over my table, pretending to investigate my face. "Hmm…everything seems alright here…." She looked all the way down, from my face to my chest, and then… "Oh boy. Seems like you're a little stuck."

There was no need for me to look down. I already knew what she'd done. She glued both my table and my chair to the ground, and by the looks of it, my shoes too.

"Hey, I got those yesterday!"

Sasha sniggered. "Are you kidding me? A guy like you, caring about his shoes?"

Ibisan was slamming his fist on his desk, not being able to hold his laughter any longer. More classmates started to notice what was going on, and more laughter and giggling filled the classroom. But not only because of me. I still wasn't done fixing Sasha's hair, but she didn't seem to mind any longer, knowing that she'd gotten me.

"What was the saying again?" she said, placing a finger on her chin. "Oh, that's right; Karma."

After that she said down in her chair, her elastic hair bouncing up and down. Still looked funny though, but I'd have to return it to normal again before leaving class, otherwise Kubo-sensei would have me weep the floors again.

"Oh man" Ibisan panted. "That was hilarious."

"You find everything hilarious" I said, trying to get my foot out of my shoe. I might needed to break the table in order to leave the classroom, if Sasha didn't undo her magic glue. And I thought my power was useless.

Ibisan rested his chin on his arms and sighed. "Well, I don't like sitting here waiting for the announcement that class is cancelled again. Why doesn't Kubo-sensei just cancel it for the whole semester?"

The girl sitting next to Sasha, Caroline, turned around. "I heard Kubo-sensei found a teacher. And that he's really strange."

"Pff, a new teacher?" I sniggered. "I wonder how long this one will last."

"Don't get your hopes up, Samdy" Caroline warned, with her serious face. "This one's from another continent. He actually knows magic. Real magic."

"You mean like…our kind of magic?" Ibisan asked. Caroline nodded.

"Yeah, right" I scowled. "Keep dreaming. There's no one who can teach us freaks about our abilities. We're doomed."

"Samdy, don't be so pessimistic!" Sasha suddenly snapped, turning around furiously. "Don't say that!"

"Say what? That we're freaks? Doomed? Outsiders?"

"Stop it!" she said again, this time with emotion in her voice. But I didn't care to listen to that.

"It's the truth, Sasha. Just face the facts; we're-"

"What facts?"

Some random, deep voice suddenly filled the classroom. Everyone went silent. All the little groups stopped their little conversations immediately and turned their heads to the figure that had appeared in front of the classroom. No one had seen or heard him come in. No one had felt a presence whatsoever, other than our classmates.

The man seemed like a punk to me. Some high school dropout, like most of us. But there was this strange aura around him. It felt really weird, but at the same time it felt like something I'd experienced before.

As he got closer to me, I felt that aura intensifying. His red eyes pierced into mine. His footsteps echoed and seemed even more scary now that everyone had gone silent. He put one hand on my desk, a gloved hand with iron knuckles. He leaned forward, his face close to mine.

Don't get me wrong, I was frightened, but I wasn't scared. I just felt really strange. That aura was really getting to me.

"Listen to me, boy." His voice sounded even heavier from up close, and I felt a shiver down my spine. "You mean to tell me that every person that can do magic, is a freak? You mean to call me an outsider?"

I blinked, a little surprised. Was this the new teacher?

"Answer me!" he shouted. I quickly shook my head.

"No, sir! No, sensei. I was just fooling around."

The man chuckled, without any amuse. "Fooling around. You remind me of someone. A certain someone. I hate him."

After saying that, he kept looking at me, and I wasn't sure what to do. My dirtbags of friends weren't helpful either. His red eyes made me dizzy, so I tried looking at those weird piercings on his eyebrows. Or…were _those_ his eyebrows?

Finally, he stood up. He looked around the class, and everywhere his eyes passed, I saw my classmates shiver.

When he turned around to walk back to the chalk board, I noticed a huge tattoo on his arm. It looked like some kind of symbol, but I couldn't really see what it was meant to be.

"My name is Gajeel" the man said. The common teacher would write his name on the board, so the students wouldn't forget, but he didn't bother. "I'm the iron dragonslayer from Fairy Tail, and I'm your new teacher."


	2. Chapter 2: Actual Magic Practice 101

**Helloo** **If you're reading this than it means I've gotten lucky. I'm currently in the Czech Republic and the internet sucks. Maybe my love for this site was able to overpower it somehow.**

 **Thank you so much for your positive reviews on the first chapter. You guys are awesome.**

 **I had gotten a question which I think all of the readers of this story deserve an answer to; yes, I am planning to add Levy in the story as well, if you hadn't seen it in the description already.**

 **One more thing; tomorrow, or maybe today if the internet fucks up again, is July the 7th. To honour that day, I hope to upload another chapter for this story. (if you don't know; July 7th 777 was the day all seven dragons disappeared. Yeah, just a geeky fact I remembered)**

 **For now; enjoy this chappie ;)**

 **(Disclaimer: I wish I owned Fairy Tail, but I don't)**

 _Chapter 2: Actual Magic Practice 101_

 **Name: Sasha Grimm**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: Student at SMS, Class B3C**

I frowned. Did he just acutally say that? A slayer? Of dragons? Is this some kind of sick joke?

I turned my head to look at Caroline, who at next to me. I tried to get her attention, but she looked terrified, too afraid to move. All she could do was stare at the man who stood in front of the teacher's desk. His desk now, I figured.

"You done foolin' around now, punks?" he growled after a while. There was no response from the thirteen students in the room. Even that stupid Samdy kept his mouth shut for once.

The strange looking man calling himself 'Gajeel' suddenly jerked his head, as if something or someone got his attention. I looked over my shoulder to see Tilly, a girl with long dark hair, braided over her shoulder, raise her hand. She was known for being rather rude and not having many friends, asking a question right now at this exact moment occurred to me as bold and not rude at all.

"What?" Gajeel spit out. Tilly didn't show any fear, but I saw her swallow, as if something got stuck down her throat.

"What kind of magic do you use?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'm a dragon slayer. That all?"

"Uhm, well, is that meant as the symbolic meaning or something? Because, well, dragons are like….not real…"

I saw Gajeel squint his eyes a little, as if Tilly had just hit a sensitive spot. It was only a split second.

"Just because you've never seen one, does not mean they don't exist."

"But sir, like, I love dragons too, but saying they're real-"

There was a soft snigger which send a shiver down my spine. This man was absolutely terrifying. "That just proves you've never met one. They're not as 'lovely' as you describe them to be." The smile quickly disappeared from his face. "They're ruthless monsters, who only respect the strong. You wouldn't stand a chance against them."

With that said, Tilly shut her mouth, but the expression on her face told me that she wasn't satisfied with the answer. Gajeel didn't seem to care. Instead, he took a few steps forward, as if he was literally moving towards a different subject. In fact, he stood in front of Caroline's table. She seemed to be holding her breath. With every word coming from Gajeel's mouth, she seemed to shiver a little.

"Now, you punks get you asses out of these chairs, so I can see what you're made of." There was no movement whatsoever. No one seemed to be in the mood for some kind of exercise. Or punishment. Maybe both. Gajeel seemed annoyed. He took a step back, to Caroline's relief.

He leaned backwards, sucking in a huge amount of air. I heard Samdy whisper behind me.

"What the hell is he doing?"

For about five seconds, he stood in that position, before leaning forward. Next thing we know, we're being blown out of our chairs by an aroma what smells like a mixture of iron and just plain smelly breath. "GET YOUR DAMN ASSES UP, YOU WORTHLESS PIECES OF SHIT!"

My ears were still ringing at the end of the day.

I felt myself being lifted up in the air, along with my chair and table. Caroline screamed next to me, and I heard Samdy memorize his whole curse word-dictionary.

I fell with a thud on back on earth, and so did the rest of my classmates, according to their surprised yelps here and there. The classroom was covered with dust that had broken free from under the tables. The furniture was scattered all over the room, books, papers, pencils and students included. Gajeel still stood in the same spot as before, his arms crossed and his face slightly amused by the scene.

I managed to sit up, my head pounding as if someone hit me with a hammer a few times. I took a look around as the dust cleared, hoping that no one got seriously injured.

I almost screamed when I suddenly heard a groan coming from beneath me. I looked down, to see Samdy lying with his face down. Somehow, I had ended up falling on top of him.

"You're heavy…" he coughed. I jumped up, both angry and embarrassed.

"You….why you….how did you….You idiot!" I flattened my uniform skirt, hoping to somehow rub Samdy off me. The boy himself rolled onto his back, rubbing his face. "You ok?"

I lifted an eyebrow. My glue seemed not to have lost its effect, for I saw it still standing in the middle of the mess. The table, on the other hand, had been split in two. Seeing Samdy's feet in socks meant that his shoes were still somewhere under all the splinters.

I looked at his face, his eyes looking back at me. It made me uncomfortable. Why would he care…? "I'm fine." I hesitated. "How about you?"

Samdy sat up, massaging his neck. "Despite the weight thrown on top of me, I still alive…hey!"

I had given him a punch to the head. To think that he'd actually say something meaningful was stupid. He remained an idiot after all.

I walked over to Caroline, who patted her sleeves clean from the dust. When she saw me coming, she quickly grabbed my arm. "There you are. C'mon, let's get out of here."

"What?"

She was already dragging me towards the door. "This guy is not our teacher. He's just some bully out to mock us."

"Class's not over yet" Gajeel's voice sounded from behind us.

"Shit" Caroline mumbled, with a high pitched voice.

 **Name: Ibisan Almond**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: student at MSM, class B3C**

"Now that you've finally stood up" Gajeel continued, while basically throwing both Caroline and Sasha back into the classroom, "go stand in line. When it's your turn, you step forward, tell me who you are, and show me what you got. Got it?"

Sasha somehow ended up in the arms of Samdy, who had just gotten back up. Sasha let out a scream, and slapped him on the cheek. I felt a massive laughter coming up my throat. I held my hand in front of my mouth, hoping to maybe filter it a little. But Gajeel swiftly turned his head in my direction and narrowed his eyes.

"You there. You're first."

I felt the temperature in the room going down at least twenty degrees. Shit. Now I'd done it.

I saw Samdy, in the corner of my eye, smirking at me. Yeah, he was enjoying this.

I took as step forward, till I stood about a metre in front of the new professor.

"So, who're you?" he growled.

"Ibisan Almond." I said it quicker than I ever would. The last time I introduced myself so awkwardly to a stranger was when I met Caroline for the first time. For some reason, Gajeel had the same expression on his face as she had back then.

"And?"

It took me a few seconds to figure out what he meant. Stuttering, I continued. "I, uh…well, I can do this…" I held up my right hand. Without any difficulties, I managed to transform my human hand into the paw of a bear. A grizzly bear to be exact. I looked up at my teacher, who only glanced at it for a few seconds.

"Next" he then said. I lifted an eyebrow as I turned around. That's it? No scoring, or anything?

Gajeel pointed at Tilly. "You, big talk, get over here."

Tilly walked over to him, and even she seemed nervous. "Tilly Sasaki. I can make myself invisible…" There was the sound of a bubble popping, and with that Tilly disappeared, along with her clothes. I had seen it a couple times, but it still seemed alien to me. And this is coming from the guy with a bear claw.

Next up was Kai, a guy who can break everything. Literally everything. Without touching, he could make a crack in a stone pillar. We actually did that once, with Samdy. He took the blame.

Kai glanced at me, remembering me of one of our inside jokes, and I try not to start laughing again. After introducing himself, Kai closes his eyes, pointing his index finger at the teacher's desk. There's a loud crack when the wood splits in two. There was some soft giggling coming from our classmates, but Gajeel's expression remained the same.

After Kai, the twins stepped forward; Greg and Floyd. They use the same kind of magic; lifting inanimate objects. Also very good for pulling pranks.

They made some books fly in front of Gajeel's face, even dared to let one fall on his toes and quickly apologizing as if that wasn't supposed to happen, but still Gajeel did not seem impressed, or in pain. Nothing seemed to change his mind.

Then it was Sasha's turn. Sticky-hands-Sasha, as I like to call her. As a demonstration, she glued a pencil to a table. At that moment, I could at least understand why the guy wasn't impressed by us.

After Sasha came her friend Caroline. Sweet Caroline. She was able to see through walls, which came in handy when you wanted to know your test results right away.

The rest of the lesson remained like this. Everyone showed their 'skills', or rather 'abnormalities', like myself, and Gajeel would stand there with a cold face. No one could really tell what he was thinking. I was just thinking about what kind of weaknesses he might have. Who knows what sort of fun we could have with that knowledge.

Lastly, it was my best pal's turn.

"Get your ass over here, Romeo" Gajeel said. He had been calling people forward with the weirdest nicknames. He probably figured that making us stand in line wouldn't work, so he just chose his next victim himself.

There was some giggling by the last nickname, with Sasha rolling her eyes. Samdy stepped forward, hands in his pockets.

"Name's Sam. I can make things turn into elastics." He held up his right hand, holding lighter in the palm of his hand. Without as much as looking, it turned into a pink little elastic rope. Always pink. It's not even his colour, yet it gives us a lot of material to work with.

I expected Samdy to walk back to stand with us, but he stayed instead, looking at Gajeel. When I saw him making his hand to a fist, I knew it meant trouble. He's such a hothead.

"Are you done making a fool out of us?" he sneered. It seemed everyone held their breaths, shocked at the sudden turn this class was about to make. Gajeel did not respond, which seemed to motivate Samdy only more to continue his rent. "I can see you laughing at us behind that steel face of yours. I can see those judging eyes. You may look weird, and you talk about dragons and shit, but you're just like everybody else."

I wanted to face palm. He can be too emotional sometimes.

"You think of us as freaks, don't you? You just came here because there was nowhere else to find a job, just like the others. Well guess what? We came here to actually learn something. Thinking we could mean something to a world that doesn't accept us."

Yup. There it is. The emotional voice. Don't get me wrong, he's like a brother to me. But I can't like everything about my brother.

"You think making a fool out of ourselves will make us feel better? We're already worthless. You're only making it worse. What's the point of this stupid stage thingy you're trying to pull, huh?"

Gajeel had not blinked. Not even once. He had the same expression on his face he'd kept the whole time. Yet he didn't seem bored by Samdy's words. Rather interested, which seemed weird.

"Actually" he suddenly said. It surprised me how calm he sounded, and that he was actually answering the question. That hadn't happened before. "The point of this 'stage', as you like to call it, is for me to see what you guys got in store, which I said before calling the first person forward. Ibisan uses a kind of transformation magic, so does Tilly. Caroline uses her mind. Sasha uses a primitive type of sealing magic. Greg and Floyd use manipulation. Martin, Jake, Rose and Lilly all happen to use shielding magic, Ary uses healing magic. Both Kai and Layton use destructive magic. And you..." I'm not sure if I saw it correctly, but it seemed as if he smiled. Or attempted to smile. "You're a freak among the freaks, kiddo. You're able to change the chemicals, meaning the atoms and with that the molecules, of any object, and turn them into something else. It's a kind that could be listed under 'transformation', but it's not entirely the same, since it's not your body that changes." Gajeel looked at Samdy, and this time I was sure; he had a grin on his face. "Get it now, punk?"

At that moment, the sound announcing the end of class blew through the intercom. Normally, we would all immediately grab our stuff and get the hell outta here, but on this particular day, we hesitated. Everyone looked at their own hands, looked into a mirror, looked at each other, at Gajeel, all in awe. I looked at my right hand. My bear claw. I didn't pull it out, I just kept looking at my human palm. Transformation, huh? Didn't sound bad at all.

Gajeel looked at the intercom in the corner, with his eyebrows lifted, as if he hadn't seen such a thing before. After the sound went away, he looked over his shoulder. The students all turned their heads towards him, Samdy included.

Gajeel lifted his arm nonchalantly, and waved it shortly. "So long." And then he walked out, leaving us still not able to think straight. It was the first time someone told us that the things we could do meant something. We weren't just handicapped, or abnormal or some sort. The things we could do even had names, as if they occurred on a regular basis. Which meant we weren't as freaky as we thought we were.

Samdy seemed to come to this realization too. He quietly packed his bag and left he classroom. Normally, we would walk together, but it seemed he'd rather be alone right now. Besides, it was also the first time someone remembered our names without having to write them down. Must've been a shock too.


	3. Chapter 3: The Iron Lunch

**Heyho**

 **It took me a while, but now it's finally uploaded. Damn, now I can sleep.**

 **So to honour the 7th of July, here's another chapter!**

 **(Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is not mine, but can I at least have Laxus? He's hot...)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 3: The Iron Lunch_

 **Kuchiha Riguko**

There was a knock on the door. Kubo-sensei waved, demanding that I led his guest in.

The second time I laid eyes on Gajeel was just as terrifying as the first time. I doubted it would ever change in the time he'd be staying here. For how long again? Only this semester, right?

I closed the door behind me, trying to keep my hands from shaking. Gajeel basically ignored me, or just wasn't interested in my presence.

"You wanted to see me?" Gajeel grumbled towards Kubo-sensei. Kubo sniggered at the rudeness of the man.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about what happened in your class today." He stopped again to chuckle. The kind of chuckle that makes girls everywhere uneasy. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he was a huge pervert. He just had that look in his eyes. OK, going too deep into the subject.

"It gave the caretaker almost an heart attack. What the hell they do?"

Gajeel shrugged lightly. "No biggy. Just teaching the punks to stand up straight. That's all."

The smile disappeared from Kubo-sensei's face. "Wait, you mean to tell me that _you_ trashed that classroom?"

Gajeel didn't answer, but I believe to have heard a sound coming from him that sounded something like 'Gihi'.

Kubo-sensei just stared at the man for a long time. I thought, and I hoped, that he was going to fire this strange man. First of all, he is very rude. Second; he's very…extreme, so to speak. He can't be good for those kids, no matter how freaky they are. He's only making it worse. Thirdly; his appearance. Those piercings had to go, seriously.

After a while, which shocked me, a smile appeared on Kubo's face again. A creepy smile, to be exact. "I like the way you think, mister Redfox-"

"Gajeel, that is" Gajeel interrupted him. Kubo-sensei nodded.

"Of course, _Gajeel._ " He folded his hands together on the table. "I'll let you get away with a warning this time, but if you pull something like this again, I'll have to assume that our line of business ends here."

My jaw almost dropped, but I managed to contain myself. He lets him get away with a warning? Are you kidding me? He trashed an entire classroom for no reason.

"I'm not simply doing this because I like you, Gajeel" Kubo continued. "Since your arrival here, I've been doing some research on you, and discovered that we have a common interest. In fact, I think we could prove valuable to one another."

Gajeel crossed his arms. "I'm listening."

Kubo-sensei eyed me, and I quickly straightened my back. "Kuchiha, would you be so kind to bring us some tea? Or maybe…something stronger?"

I bowed. "I'll see what I can find, sir."

They probably noticed how quickly I left the office. I bet that Gajeel-guy could smell my uneasiness. I don't like this at all. Secrecy. It only brings trouble.

I walked, almost ran, through the ancient hall leading towards the kitchen. I'm almost glad Kubo-sensei asked me to get something for him. He might even have done that for me, to keep me out of the 'inner circle' he was about to form with Gajeel. I had noticed that Kubo was up to something. I kept seeing him in strange places, like in the highest tower of the building, or the roof, or in the school gardens in the middle of the night. Thinking I'd be smart not to ask about it, I kept my mouth shut and kept my act of 'the dumb assistant' playing.

I push open the door to the kitchen, the aroma of tonight's dinner coming to me like a slap in the face. Normally I would've started coughing, but I'm too lost in thoughts.

Maybe I'm overthinking the situation. Maybe it's something really simple, like new books or something, for the students to use in class. Maybe Gajeel knows a guy that sells that kind of stuff.

I just hope it's something like this. But I don't want to know anything about it. Not a thing.

This is my first job. If I end up in prison because I got too involved, my whole life is done for.

 **Name: Caroline Felicia**

 **Age: 14**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C**

It seemed that all the other classes had gone just as violent as ours. We were the first to have Gajeel as a teacher, after us B3A. The next day, it was B3B's turn. By that time, they'd heard all about this new teacher for Magic Practice 101. I heard some even skipped out on it because of all the stories that were being told about Gajeel.

Most of them were negative, but it seemed as if Gajeel had already earned a few hearts. For example; Tilly, from our class, seemed to already be in love with him. She doesn't talk much, but I saw her make a portrait of Gajeel in her notebook during History of Magic 103.

There are also the ones that remained in shock during the night, like Samdy. When I asked Ibisan at the beginning of Magic Science 103 what was wrong with him, he told me he hadn't said a single word since yesterday. Ibisan seemed to be worried.

"Maybe he'll come around after lunch" I said, hoping to cheer him up somehow. We would have Magic practice 101. Gajeel's class. Ibisan shrugged.

"I hope so."

Sasha had remained silent till last night, but seemed to have found her words by morning, and actually seemed excited to go back to Gajeel's class.

"I hope that he'll teach us more about the kinds of magic we use, instead of read out of books, like the others" she said during lunch. She took another bite of her sandwich, while throwing her other hand in the air. "I swear, I'm starting to think this guy's different than the others. Not just the way he looks, but the way he does things." She swallowed. "I bet he'll be the best teacher this school has ever known."

"You really think so?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. Gajeel just gave me the creeps. I didn't get why Sasha adored him so much. Although I had to admit that I felt excited for something so new. Our magic actually meant something.

Sasha nodded. "I believe it."

When recess ended, Sasha almost ran towards the classroom, Tilly following soon after. When we got there, Greg and Floyd were already there, which was a miracle. They were the ones always late to every class, no exceptions.

They were standing, to be exact. The caretaker had pulled out some old tables and chairs for replace the one's Gajeel broke the other day. It seemed like some messy soup, with the new and the old furniture put together.

The other students, including Sasha and myself, followed the twin's example. We stood in front of the class, patiently waiting for the signal to sound which meant class would be starting. Gajeel wasn't here yet, but we didn't mind. Most of our substitute teacher would come to class late. But Gajeel took a little too long. I felt the tension rising, excitement and fear altogether.

"Caroline." Kai tapped my shoulder. "Can't you see if he's coming already?"

"I'll try." I blinked my eyes a few times, visually punching a hole in the wall. I could only make one 'hole' to see through, and only hold it for about thirty seconds. My power was basically useless. If I happened to see something I wasn't supposed to see, I still couldn't hear what was being said, which raised only more questions. And if I was searching for something particular, I had to be fast, because of the thirty seconds. I could make it last longer, but then it would start to hurt, and my nose would start to bleed. Like I said; useless.

With my useless visual power, I kept staring at the wall. "I can see miss Riguko, Mister Grubble…Gajeel's not there yet."

I quickly closed my eyes, waiting till the burning feeling would go away. I heard Kai curse behind me. He clearly was one of the more exciting one's. I still wasn't sure what to think.

"I don't think he's coming back" Rose yawned, almost sounding relieved. She was one of the people who pretended not to care, but was secretly terrified. The dark circles under her eyes were a prove of that.

"The coolest people always arrive fashionably late at the party…." Greg said.

"…and we're always late, so we know" Floyd added.

"Today you weren't" Ibisan pointed out.

"That's because the coolest…" Greg said.

"…has yet to arrive" Floyd ended. I rolled my eyes. They always did this stupid thing where they finished each other's sentences, once again proving that they're identical twins. I just figured they'd be living up to the stereotype. I hate stereotypes. Especially the one I'm put into; the freak.

Ibisan started some stupid argument with the twins about this subject, probably because they were just bored out of their minds and wanted to have something to do.

Sasha elbowed me. "Samdy's still non-active, it seems." To my surprise, she sounded worried. All I ever heard when she talked about Samdy, was the fact that she hated him with all her guts. "You think he-"

She abruptly silenced. I frowned, but when I heard the footsteps coming our way, I knew why. I tried once more to use my visual power, and when I did, I could see Gajeel almost looking straight at me. The second I closed my eyes, the door opened. There was a chewing kind of sound, along with one of shrieking metal or something. I heard the people around me gasp, as if they were witnessing something really disturbing. When I opened my eyes, I totally agreed.

Gajeel had a handful of bolts in his mouth and was chewing loudly. Little parts of it flew around him as he tried to say something.

"Dis 's ma lunch."

"What the actual…" Ibisan whispered next to me. I found myself trembling again in front of this strange man. His reddish eyes went over the group, while he swallowed the last small pieces. After that, he burped, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed.

"Did you just eat metal?" Who else could it be but Tilly to ask such a thing.

"Yeah, needed some energy for today." He rubbed over his belly, as if it was stuffed.

"Energy? You gain energy from eating….that?" Tilly pointed at the small pieces still on the ground.

"When will she learn to shut her trap, seriously!" I heard Rose hiss behind me. Tilly pretended not to hear it, but I could see her bite her lips slightly.

"An iron dragon slayer eats iron" Gajeel answered, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"So a fire dragon slayer would eat…fire? And what about water? How do you eat-"

"For all I know" Gajeel interrupted, "there are two dragon slayers; me and one idiot in my in guild…" With that said, he grinded his teeth, as if he remembered something he resented, "but there could be more, or so Metallicana said…."

"Guild? What's that? And who's Metallicana?" Floyd asked. It must be the first time I heard him say anything without his brother.

Gajeel sighed. "I'm here to teach you magic, not about guilds. They're just a bunch of idiots practicing magic, and when someone leave a request, the idiots can use their magic in return of a reward; money. That's how they make a living."

"Was this a request too? And who's Metallicana?" Tilly asks. Always the sensitive questions.

Gajeel sighed. "Yes. But enough about that nonsense.

"Who's Metallicana?"

Everyone turned their heads. The voice asking the question sounded sore, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. It was a voice his friends had missed. Sasha sighed, annoyed, but also relieved.

Gajeel stared at Samdy, and Samdy stared back. "Who is that?"

Gajeel's mouth made a turn downwards. My heart skipped a beat as I saw him making fists of his hands, as if he was going to rampage again.

"Metallicana was the one who raised me" he grumbled.

"A dragon, right?"

Gajeel's eyes narrowed. I heard gasping once again all around me, including me.

When Gajeel spoke again, he seemed to choose his words carefully. "Yes. Metallicana, the iron dragon. How'd you know?"

Samdy shrugged. "Some fairy told me."

What was that supposed to mean? Some fairy…that reminded me of something. Yesterday, when Gajeel introduced himself, he said something about a fairy…

"Gehe" was the sound that came from the man himself. "Some fairy, huh? Interesting."

I looked from Samdy to Gajeel and back, as if their conversation continued between just the two of them. I glanced at Sasha again, who shrugged with an 'I-don't-know'-face.

After what seemed like ages, Gajeel turned his back. "Let's get back to business." He started walking towards the door, leaving us confused. Was he going to leave…?

He looked over his shoulder. "Follow me, you dumbasses! We're getting out of this classroom. Way too messy in there."

I frowned, eyeing Sasha. She smiled, and almost ran towards Gajeel. The most enthusiastic ones followed him as well, but a few stayed behind, hesitating. Samdy slowly followed the rest, and when he did, the one who most resented and resisted against the new teacher, the few remaining came as well.


	4. Chapter 4: The Beginning Of All Magic

**Yo Yo Yoghurt!**

 **Another fun chapter, freshly written! And for some reason, the Doc Manager was nice today. He let me upload in one go, instead of letting me struggle for another fifty tries.**

 **(Disclaimer: I'm starting to dig Gajeel a lot now, he's awesome. But still not mine)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 4: The beginning of all magic_

 **Name: Kai Shoe**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C**

This guy was the shit. Absolutely. First, he trashed the classroom. Next, he's taking us outside, probably because he'll trash the very same place again. The trees are not as valuable to the school as the desks and chairs. Maybe Cumbo asked him to do this as a precaution. Kubo is such a pussy.

"OK, punks," Gajeel began. We were standing in the forest outside the school. He might be awesome, but he lost a few points for making us walk for at least a mile. We were literally surrounded by trees, leafs, bushes, shadow, and maybe some small animals here and there.

"Plottwist; Gajeel's hippie" I heard Floyd whisper behind me.

"You wanna bet?" Greg whispered to his brother.

"Five dollars every time he tells us to do hippie-shit, ten if he starts talking about peace."

"Deal."

Gajeel raised one of his weird eyebrows at them, and they quickly shut up. I wasn't a fan of piercings, but his were frickin' badass. He had his arms folded (I gotta say I was a bit jealous. Them' muscles, though), standing in front of the group with that emotionless face that gets even Samdy to get uneasy. But the guy seemed rather relaxed (which was really creepy in my opinion).

"As your classmate so willingly explained earlier-"

"You're welcome."

"—I was raised by a dragon, called Metalicana. He told me a particular kind of magic; the one to slay iron dragons. But before you piss your pants; no, ain't here to teach you slaying magic." With that, he jerked his head towards Tilly, who quickly bowed her head. Idiot. "Where I come from, there are all kinds of magic that differ in all kinds of ways. But all magic has the same base and principle. I'm here to teach you the base, since I'm not expert in the kinds of magic you use. For that, you have to find yourself a master who is, or just struggle your way out yourself. Although…" A grin appeared on his sharp mouth. "If you were able to, you wouldn't be here."

Wow. Way to boost our confidence, jerk. Another minus ten points on your awesomeness, sir.

"Why are we here, exactly?" Tilly asked. Again with her big mouth. If she were hot, I might found it funny.

"Good question, for once" Gajeel said, his smile disappearing. "Your headmaster did a good job finding a place like this. This forest might be the only place that possesses magic in your continent. Sad, really." He took a few steps towards an oak standing near him, placing his hand on the ancient wood. (If I say ancient, I'm not exaggerating. Maybe a little. But it was old, that's for damn sure)

"You get a better chance at learning how to control your magic if you're closer to a source that contains it" he continued. "The reason Ibisan can only transform a single hand, and Caroline is able to only hold her spy-trick, is because there's not enough magic around you to supply your own. Same reason I can't give some people the proper punishments they deserve." With that, he eyed Samdy, who bravely stared back. (Note to self: I still had to ask him how he knew about Gajeel's dragon daddy)

"Although I hate these kinds of spiritual things" Gajeel sighed, "it's the first step of becoming a wizard of any kind." With that, he sat down in the grass with a thud. He seemed almost embarrassed about it. "Follow my lead, idiots."

He hadn't even finished his sentence, or everyone had already planted their butts on the ground. Everyone wanted to learn magic-stuff. Like seriously; everyone. Even Rose, who kept bitching earlier about Gajeel's ways being too 'violent'. That fatass didn't even know what real violence is.

"Close your eyes."

"Shit" I heard Greg behind me. I turned my head to see Greg handing Floyd five dollars.

"And shut your traps" Gajeel added. There was some small protesting from, who else could it be, princess Rose from Cupcake island, but in the end everyone shut up.

"Breathe in-"

"Are you kidding me?" Another five dollars for Floyd.

"My magic might be not greater than yours, but I don't need it to break your necks!"

"Understood" the twins said in unison.

"You better" Gajeel grumbled. I thought I could hear him curse at himself for having to do this crap, and something about never doing this again, and that he shouldn't have taken on this job. (If you ask me, the fact that he doesn't particularly like having to 'meditate', or whatever this is supposed to be, proves that he's not a hippie at heart. Greg should have his five dollars back.)

"As I said earlier; this forest contains magic. Magic that you can use, but only if you're able to sense it. That's what we're gonna do. Concentrate on yourself. You should feel the magic burning inside you. If you have trouble finding it, try to focus on the spot where your magic mostly expresses itself. Ibisan; your hand. Caroline; your eyes. Anywhere you first feel the magic burning once you make use of it."

Hippie crap or not, he sounded dead serious. The place where I feel my magic first, are my upper arms, for some strange reason. It's like flexing them. I've always been quite muscular, even without having to train. I use magic to strengthen myself and for some reason it starts with my upper arms, then spreads towards my chest, down all the way to my feet. Like magic steroids. (If I had those for my brain, I might've actually made it in normal high school)

At first, I could hear some girls giggling and some of my friends (the twins, of course) whispering about how they were doing it and that they couldn't feel it, but after a few minutes, all I could hear was the wind going through the leafs, shaking them and making them fall down. When even that sound disappeared, I knew I was doing the right thing. I felt like I was all by myself, in some empty room. There was only my heartbeat, but also something else.

The places which I pointed out as the centre of my magic were pounding too. As if two hearts had stationed themselves there. As if they were alive on their own. It felt so weird, but it didn't scare me that much. It was a part of me, after all. It was me.

I tried to use my magic like I would do when I demonstrated it the first time to Gajeel. I stretched out my arm, feeling the burn in my biceps. I could easily split objects in two, break small stones, and sometimes a stone pillar.

But this time, it felt different. I felt this strange power. A new power. And it wasn't mine.

This was the magic Gajeel was talking about.

It almost felt like it was too much. It felt like trying to walk a puppy; energetic and hard to control. But when you finally get it to sit down and the pup would look up to you with its cute puppy eyes, you'd feel awesome.

And I felt better than awesome. I couldn't just break rocks or teacher's desks. I felt like I could split the earth in two.

"OK, that's it." Somehow, Gajeel's voice was able to pierce through the barrier I had put myself in. In the same order, the sounds of the forest returned, and later the voices of my fellow students. Some of them lay on the ground, staring to the sky. For some reason, Sasha was crying. The twins were dancing. Ibisan looked at his hands, his eyes widened, as if he'd seen the newest episode of his favourite anime. Miss Fatty was talking with (dafuq?) Tilly about what she'd felt during her trance.

I saw Gajeel leaning against the big oak he'd touched earlier. He had that grin on his face, but with a little extra. Something that looked like accomplishment.

We were officially wizards in training.

 **Name: Tilly Gold**

 **Age: 14**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

Today was awesome. Best class I'd ever had in the three years I've been here. If Gajeel kept teaching us like he did, we would graduate in one year as real wizards, and not just weirdos with weird tricks, or 'conditions'.

Next day would be Friday, without Magic Practice 101, sadly. But on Monday's, it was the first thing in the morning.

Rose, who became my friend just that afternoon, told me she was going to visit her family this weekend, along with Lilly, who happens to have family in the same town.

Gajeel's class seemed to have gotten us closer together, which I was grateful for. But I'd still be alone that weekend. Well, maybe not alone. I'm not the only one kicked out by her parents after almost scaring them to death with her 'condition'. Rose is one of the lucky few to have parents that still accept her for who she is.

I sometimes try writing to my grandfather, who seemed to be the only person still interested in me, and no my 'condition'. I always ask him how my parents are, and the few times he replies, he always tells me that they miss me and wish me well. Yeah, right.

As many nights, I would walk the halls of this giant building. It was one of the perks of my early stages of magic; I could walk them being invisible. Other than Caroline, I was able to hold my invisibility for an unknown amount of time. So even if I happened to run into a professor or the caretaker, I would never get in trouble. Not that I cared if I did. Being a freak was my biggest punishment. How dramatic.

So there I was, walking down the hall, leaving the girl's dorm behind me. I decided to go to the gardens. The flowers and the plants there seemed to bring me comfort of some sort.

When I got there, I saw that the garden was already 'occupied', so to speak. Normally, it wouldn't bother me, since I was invisible. But it was the identities of the people there that surprised me and made me almost drop my guard.

It was Gajeel and the Headmaster, off for a stroll in the middle of the night. The few times Gajeel had spoken about Kubo-sensei, he seemed sarcastic and rather negative. Not the type of person he would walk the gardens with in the middle of the night.

You know me, curious as always. Of course I went to check it out.

As quietly as I could, I slid behind a few bushes, despite being invisible. Can't be careful enough.

They stood in the middle, in the light of the moon. Kubo wore his weird sunglasses, as always, and a suit, like a man of business. I never understood that. I mean, he's the headmaster of a high school for weird teens.

Gajeel looked the same as this afternoon, but his face seemed a little tensed, as if the subject they were discussing was very, very interesting and was dragging me closer to eavesdrop their conversation. And so I did.

"…which is why I sent the request to your guild" Kubo finished. "However, I would never dream of you being the one to accept it. Out of all the wizards there! I heard the Salamander isn't that bright, meaning I could manipulate him if necessary, but with you being here, that saves me a hell lot of trouble.I couldn't be happier."

Gajeel smirked. "Careful, now. You don't know the guy like I do. But I get it. I got you a lacrima. Now what is it you want with Raven Tail?"

I frowned. OK, I got that they were talking guilds, but I hadn't heard of that last one. I thought Gajeel was with Pixie Tail or something. And what the hell was a lacrima?

Kubo let out a mysterious laugh, which send shivers down my spine. He'd made me feel miserable in his present from the day I'd met him.

"Always straight to the point, eh?"

Gajeel didn't seem amused, and Kubo quickly wiped that smile of his face. "I see…" He cleared his throat. "Well, you see, I have some grant plans for this school and its students…especially the students."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "What does Master Ivan have to do with it?"

Kubo grinned. "Everything, my friend. We both want to destroy that pathetic Fairy Tail of yours."

I gasped, and quickly put a hand over my mouth. Both Gajeel and Kubo turned their heads in my direction. I held my breath, my heart beating in my throat. Shit, shit, shit!

Gajeel narrowed his eyes, exactly on the place I stood. Was I found out?

I stood there, not able to do anything, for what seemed like ages, with Gajeel's red eyes seemingly piercing into mine.

"Are we being watched?" Kubo asked.

Gajeel turned his head towards him. "No, it was probably the wind. You were saying?"

As soon as they had both turned their backs on me, I started running. I didn't even care if they could hear my footsteps. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. There were only two things going through my mind; "What the hell?! Gajeel is going to destroy his own guild?!"


	5. Chapter 5: On The Train

**Hey people!**

 **Another chapter, yay! Thank you for the kind reviews so far, I'm always glad to hear that you guys enjoy the story. I'm back in my lovely home in The Netherlands, where there's internet around every corner, so uploads can be quicker (thank god)**

 **(Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. I'm currently reading the manga and I'm in the middle of the S-class wizard arc-thing. It was a sweet reminder how awesome Gajeel is, but I can't buy him, sadly.)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 5: On the train_

 **Name: Rose Tigress**

 **Age: 14**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

I waved one last time at Tilly, who stood at the platform, her arms folded. She smiled, although not completely. Her eyes were surrounded by dark circles, as if she hadn't slept all night.

I watched her shrink as the train started moving, her figure nothing more than a shadow when we got further away from the station.

"I hope she's gonna be alright" Lily said after a while, and I nodded.

"Me too. I don't know what happened, but I haven't seen her like this before."

Lilly shrugged. "Well it's not like we hung out with her for that long."

"I guess. But she's so nice. I never figured."

"Me neither. We should ask her to come with us next time."

"Absolutely." I sighed, and I heard the nostalgia of myself in there. "I can't wait to see my parents again. Last time it was snowing. And I wonder if Michael has grown a bit."

Lilly chuckled. "As if. How old is he now? Eight, nine?"

"He turns nine upcoming September…I think…" I giggled as I struggled to remember the exact date. Lilly shook her head, laughing at me. "OK, I admit it, I forgot. Happy now?"

I stood up, patting my skirt. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a bit."

"Want me to come with?"

I turned around, narrowing my eyes with a grin. "Let's not give the stereotype more credit. I'll be fine on my own. Besides, someone has to look after our bags."

Lilly nodded, with forced determination on her face. "I'll protect I with my life, m'am."

"That's a good girl."

I stepped out of the coupe, looking right and left. At the end of the left hung a glowing sign, leading the way towards the toilet.

When I got there, I noticed that the red light above the door was burning. Locked.

"Damnit" I mumbled, leaning against the glass next to the coupe door. The train was now speeding up, the landscape flashing by like an abstract painting of primary colours. As the vehicle made a turn, I suddenly heard a moan coming from the toilet. Next was a thud, and I heard a male voice cursing.

"Are you alright in there, sir?" I asked, hesitantly. There was some more groaning, and I wasn't sure if he'd heard me. I took a step towards the door and knocked carefully.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, the light jumped to green and the door unlocked. It flew open, with a horrible smell blowing my way. I stumbled back, holding a hand in front of my nose and mouth.

"Oi" the male voice sounded, breathing heavily. I looked up, and my jaw almost dropped as I recognized the person the voice belonged to.

"Gajeel?!" I almost screamed. He was sweating all over, his face pale as a sheet, his arms were shivering and it seemed as if he couldn't stand up on his own, leaning against the wall. The train made another turn, and he almost fell forward.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. Gajeel held up one hand, as he placed the other over his mouth. His cheeks swell up and his eyes widened. He quickly turned around towards the pot and vomited.

"Oh my god…" I gasped, turning my back towards him. He gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He gagged a few more times, but decided that he was finished throwing up his every meal from the past two weeks. He flushed, and stepped out, still wobbly on his own feet.

"You didn't see a thing" he mumbled. The train leaned to the left, causing him to gag again.

"No, didn't see a thing" I quickly said. At first I thought it was shocking to see my teacher like this, but after a while I reached a point where I only thought of it as amusing. Because it was funny as hell.

"We have something to calm your stomach, if you want" I said, trying not to laugh. Gajeel, the scowling grumpy teacher wizard, leaned against the wall as if he was the weakest thing that had ever lived.

"There ain't a thing that can cure my motion-sickness, trust me" he grunted. He pointed at the cabin where he just vomited. "Need to take a piss? It's all yours."

I blushed. "Nah, I'm good. Just three more stops and I'm there, I'll manage."

He shrugged, for as far as he was capable of doing that. "Suit yourself. See yah Monday."

After that, he disappeared in the coupe closest to him. I stood there still, my arms still folded. It took a while to let that what just happened sink in.

Still a little dazed, I went back to Lilly. She was reading a magazine, her legs crossed over one another. She glanced up when I entered, pushing her glasses a little further up her nose with her index finger.

"Took you long enough."

I said down without answering. She looked up again. "You ok?"

I told Gajeel I wouldn't say a thing about what had occurred, but Lily was my best friend. We don't have secrets for one another.

"Lily" I said, looking up. She raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea what just happened."

 **Name: Greg Blazer**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

"This might be the first time I want to go to school" I mumbled, wiping some crumbles of my cheeks. My brother nodded.

"You bet. I can't wait to manipulate the shit out of gravity!" He took another bite of his sugar waffle.

"I bet we can make Gajeel fly to his Dragon daddy" Kai laughed. "Which reminds me: Sam, how did you know?"

I turned my head to Samdy, who sat at the end of the table. "Know what?"

"He's in denial" I said.

"Next stage is confusion" my brother continued. "After that anger, sadness…"

"…and then madness" I shrugged. "It's a sad fate."

We exchanged a fist bump, as Kai raised his eyebrows at us. "I'm serious. I wanna know."

"So are we" I said. Floyd nodded.

"Sam's in danger if he keeps this up…"

Suddenly, a huge brown chunk flew from one end of the table to the other. Next, Ibisan burst out laughing, slamming his fist on the table.

"Damnit" Floyd mumbled, as he handed me five dollars under the table.

"Well, you were the one betting on Kai. It's clear who's the greater idiot here."

"Guys, quit it" Kai said, turning to Sam again. I shrugged, exchanging a look with my brother. He shrugged, saying 'I don't know either'.

"You beat Gajeel at his own game saying you heard it from a 'fairy'" Kai continued. "Who's the fairy?"

"Plot twist: professor Vendez is the fairy" Floyd whispered. "Good luck getting that image out of your head."

Samdy raised an eyebrow at Kai. "Why do you want to know?"

"Maybe that person can tell us more about…that stuff."

"You mean the place where Gajeel came from?" Samdy asked, putting down the remains of his waffle. Ibisan leaned forward, pointing at the thing with begging eyes. Samdy nodded, and Ibisan ate the thing in three seconds.

"Damn" I said, giving back the five dollars.

"Another five if he's gonna ask for another" Floyd mumbled.

"Ten if he orders a drink with it" I mumbled back.

"Deal."

"Yes, mostly" Kai answered Samdy's question. "And I'd like to find out why we are how we are."

"Well, why don't you ask Gajeel about it?" Ibisan said, getting himself involved in the conversation, while we still waited for him to order something.

"I don't know if he wants to" Kai answered. "I mean, depending on how he treated us last couple of lessons…I don't care what he calls us, but it doesn't really give me the impression that he'll willingly answer all our questions…"

"He did when Samdy asked" Floyd pointed out. I guess our game of bets was over for now. "About the dragon."

"That was different" Kai said. "It concerned himself. My questions are about us. About the things we can do."

Samdy ruffled his brown hair, with a serious look on his face. "Look, I can't go back to the guy, ok? He…He's a man of business, so to speak."

I snorted. "What did he make you do?"

Samdy rolled his eyes, while Ibisan giggled. "Nothing like that, pervert. I had to do something in return. But it was really weird."

"Well, what was it?"

"He wanted me to confirm that Gajeel is who he says he is. To make sure it's not an imposter of some kind."

"What the hell…" Kai frowned again, scratching his chin. "That doesn't make much sense."

"In a way, it does" I say, thinking back to the first two lessons. "First, he told us that he was a dragon slayer. The iron dragon slayer. Samdy asks what an iron dragon slayer is, and apparently, there's only one. Maybe the guy you got your information from has some business with Gajeel as well."

Samdy shrugged. "He gave me a list with things to look for. The tattoo on his arm, for example. And he's supposed to have a scar on the same arm, from a previous tattoo he had removed because he switched guilds…"

"Switched guilds?" Ibisan repeated. "So he used to be part of some other guild? There's more than one?"

"Apparently" Kai mumbled.

"He used to be in some kind of criminal wizard guild or something," Samdy continued, "but then some other guild, a normal one, beat them and basically crushed them. Gajeel used to be the strongest wizard next to the master, or that's what the guy said, but even he was defeated. By another dragon slayer, the one from the normal guild. With his guild in ashes, Gajeel had nowhere else to go and ended up joining the other guild."

"Fairy Tail" Kai mumbled, in the kind of way as if he already respected it from the bottom of his heart. "Did he tell you about dragon slayers and stuff?"

Samdy nodded. "About seven years ago, there used to be a bunch of dragons. The last ones on the continent. They trained human children in their magic, so that they could kill dragons if necessary. Dragon slayers are in a league of their own, even in a land full of wizards. Only a dragon slayer can beat another dragon slayer. But there's only one for each kind. Gajeel is the iron dragon slayer, and he was beaten by the fire dragon slayer." He sighed. "That's about it. After that, he vanished."

"Where did you meet this guy?" Kai asked.

"Damn, this is almost an interrogation" Floyd yawned while leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, chill, guys. It's weekend, it's sunny outside, we're having sugar waffles…life is good. Let's enjoy it."

"Where?" Kai repeated, ignoring us.

"I was sitting at the back, where all he seniors always hang out during recess" Samdy answered. "He came outta nowhere, asking in what class I was. He said we had a common interest, and that he could be of use to me. I could ask him anything I wanted to know about Gajeel, and that's when he started talking." Samdy held up his hand, gesturing Kai to shut his mouth. "He wore a cape with a hood, I couldn't see his face. He was about as tall as Layton, and a deep voice. That's all I can remember." He sunk back in his chair, as if exhausted from talking. "Happy now?"

"Satisfied, yes" Kai said, as he held up his hand. Quickly, a waitress came to him. I looked at Floyd.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"What are you planning to do with this information?" Kai continued.

Samdy shrugged, as if he didn't care. "I was just curious on who he was. I'll just keep it in mind, for the time being. He's been teaching us good stuff, so I don't have any grudges towards him. And besides; it shouldn't be something I should care about. I have nothing to do with the thing that happened with the guilds or the other dragon slayer. And you guys shouldn't either."

"Why not?" Floyd asked, moving his eyebrows playfully up and down. We were thinking the same thing; there could be some good pranks coming up for the new professor.

"Samdy's right" Kai said, as he thanked the waitress for his drink. "Gajeel's a dangerous guy, and he doesn't look like the guy who would just switch guilds whenever he can. He's up to something, and we shouldn't get involved."


	6. Chapter 6: Essay and Research

**Konichiwa!**

 **I apologize for this late update, I sadly don't have that much time as I expected when I returned from holiday. I hope to upload more regularly, but I can't make any promises.**

 **Enjoy this chappie, though! ;)**

 _Chapter 6: Exams and research_

 **Name: Floyd Blazer**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

"He's a criminal, I'm telling you" I continued. Sasha widened her eyes.

"No way. I mean, he does look like some kind of gang member, or some music artist-"

"A very extravagant one…" Samdy mumbled.

"- but no criminal."

I shrugged. "Samdy was the one who dropped it."

Sasha turned her head towards the person in question, and narrowed her eyes. "Like I'd believe anything that comes out of _his_ mouth."

"What kind of music would he make?" my brother asked.

"Like…punk, or something?" I answered.

"He might as well sing German opera, for all we know" Samdy said, and Ibisan laughed in his hand once more.

"Or something like old school jazz" Kai added, and I was almost sure Ibisan pissed his pants.

"He's not a criminal" a new voice suddenly said. We all turned our heads to see Ary enter the classroom. She was late, for her doing. She was supposed to be a genius or something. Highest grades, goody-goody, right on time for every class. She'd only been here for a year, but she'd already skipped a grade, which made her the youngest in our class. And she was the most annoying thing on this planet.

"With what prove do you support this hypothesis, miss Einstein" I asked with my best English accent.

Ary rolled her eyes. "He seems too smart to be a criminal. He's the kind of person that's not too scared to get close to the border of good and bad, but a criminal…no. I have to say that a career, or the wish to have one, in music seems more likely."

"What kind of music would you say?" Greg asked. Ary shrugged.

"His appearance suggest something like heavy metal or punk rock, which is close to one another. But since he has a softer side, I'd say he has a secret passion for something more emotional."

Kai chuckled. "Softer side? I don't think so."

Ary put her bag down on the table next to where we sat. "Do you really think a criminal, or gang member, whichever you prefer, would come to work as a substitute teacher at a school like this?"

Kai leaned with his chin on his hand. "Maybe you got a point there, but that doesn't mean-"

"Doesn't mean what?" a deep voice suddenly interrupted. On the doorstep stood our teacher, looking grumpy as always. I eyed my brother, remembering him of our newest bets for today. He nodded excitingly.

Kai shrugged innocently. "Long story. Just something to keep us busy until you arrived, mister Redfox."

Ibisan didn't laugh, for once, but looked confused, as if he wasn't sure whether Kai was joking or not. Gajeel didn't look amused.

"Don't expect this to be a good class. Today will be boring as hell. I guarantee it."

"Did he just drop an internet meme?" my brother whispered.

"I'm not sure he even knows what internet is" I answered.

Gajeel walked over to his desk, and everyone rose from their seats. We all expected to be going out again, like last time. I even betted on that. Five dollars.

"You can sit down."

I frowned. The hell?

Everyone around me seemed to think the same thing. I handed my brother five dollars, but for the first time, he didn't seem happy with it.

Gajeel crossed his arms. "The thing is; exams are coming up. In a month from now, you'll have to do an exam for this course as well. That's why we'll be practising for that exam. Sadly, you ain't got much books on the stuff I'm teaching here, so you'll have to take notes, or something." Gajeel looked around. "Sit down already, punks. I'm not foolin' around."

Ary, of course, was the first one to sit down. The rest followed hesitantly, even Samdy. Gajeel sat down as well, but on top of his desk. A chair didn't seem to be of his style. He sighed.

"Just get a notebook or something, and write down everything I say."

I frowned. This wasn't fun at all. This was just like History of Magic 103. And I hated that course.

"Next time….I said write it down!"

There was the sound of pens quickly going over paper, and I eyed my brother in between. He shrugged. I guessed we would have to cancel our bets for today.

"Next time, I want you all to write down everything you know about your own magic, what you've done with it, when you first experienced it, how you think you got it, and how you ended up in a place like this. You can make out the length of the essay yourselves, as long as you just stick to the assignment I don't care if it's one page or six. You can use the remaining 45 minutes of this class to start writing and maybe turn it in at the end, meaning you'll have no homework. Just put it on the desk." After saying that, he stood up. He looked around the group, as everyone wrote down what he'd said. One after another, they looked up. I just wrote down a few words, since it wasn't that big of an assignment.

"Are there any questions?" Gajeel sighed, basically saying 'if you raise your hand now I'll punch you in the face'. Still, some idiot did. Who else could it be than Rose?

"What does our life story have to do with the exam?" Stupid question as always.

Gajeel shrugged. "Just wonderin' what you know. I have to know what kind of level you're on concerning knowledge in order to figure out what to do next."

There were sighs everywhere, someone slammed his head on his desk, others grabbed their phones from their pockets and stared at the small screen.

"Can't we just go back to the meditation stuff?" someone in the back mumbled.

 **Name: Ary Compressor**

 **Age: 13 ½**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

After two hours of History of Magic, where we once again discussed the Dark Ages, one hour of Latin 103, Myths and Legends 103 and lastly Modern Magic 102, today's classes had finished. I have to say that I was very disappointed in mister Redfox's class today. I had already finished my paper before the bell ended class, so I had plenty of time to do the homework we would be getting for HoM (History of Magic) and was already starting for MaL (Myths and Legends). I finished everything during MM(Modern Magic), so I could work on the homework for the rest of the week.

After being here for two years, I could easily predict how much work every teacher would make us do. I would always work ahead in order to have more free time to study this one thing I was very interested in. There weren't a lot of books on 'the thing', though, but I was trying my best with the resources I could get my hands on.

Like any other day where I had the time, I would go to the school's library, where I could find the majority of the books I needed for my research. Every book on any of the shelves were about magic and everything that associates with it, but not so much about this particular thing.

I sat down at my own table in the corner. In the two years I've been at MSM, the few people that regularly visit the library know that this is my reading spot.

It was a nice corner, with a window in the west, so I could read as long as the sun was up in the afternoon. After dinner, I would often come back and use the small desk lamp to continue where I left off. When the library closed at 10, I would lend one book to read before going to bed and return it the following day.

With fresh sources of information, I grabbed my notebook and pen to make notes, and started reading.

For some reason, I had the feeling that Gajeel's use of the word 'guild' had something to do with the subject, so I had grabbed a book that contained info on that. It didn't mention that particular word, but it wasn't entirely impossible for guilds to exist there.

There was this one part I found very interesting;

 _For the majority of the members, a guild meant nothing other than business. They were not often present at the central building of the guild itself, only to gather requests in their line of work. Members informed their guild master of their department, and then they went off to meet their client._

 _For some small minority, guilds meant something greater. Business was still a priority, especially when it formed their main income, but it was not the most important. Members would see their guild as a place to form bonds with other members, collaborate when accepting a certain job request, meet new people and share a drink when they felt like it. To them, a guild meant 'family', not business._

 _As mentioned before, this minority of the guilds were often specialized in rare and mythical arts, but held the same principles as a guild for carpenters, yet their ideals where more emotional._

The word 'rare and mythical arts' bothered me a little. They authors didn't explain what they meant with that.

In my point of few, knowing mister Redfox is in a guild and he is a wizard, that the 'mythical art' is magic. I think he even mentioned his guild being one for mages.

In my honesty, I had to say that the 'emotional' part made me smile. I just knew mister Redfox had a soft side.

I turned some more pages to see if there was any more useful information, but sadly there wasn't. Next book. The title seemed interesting, although the author didn't ring any bells;

 _The Magical Kingdom of Fiore – written by Dante Heartfilia_


	7. Chapter 7: Trouble in Paradise

**OI!**

 **Back again, with another chapter! I wasn't very satisfied with last chapter. I thought it was pretty boring, to put it bluntly. This chapter, however, has quite the action, and also some background stories.**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own FT)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 7: Trouble in paradise_

 **Name: Lily Solominta**

 **Age: 14**

 **Occupation: student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

The day before the deadline of the essay, everyone was freaking out. For the first time in years, Rose told me she needed some time alone, meaning she kinda dumped me. That's my best friend for yah. Tilly seemed busy as well, mumbling something about doing some research on something. She almost sounded like Ary.

I wasn't sure what to do with my essay either, mostly because I can't remember when I first knew I had magical power, nor do I know much of it. Yeah, I can make indestructible bubbles, but that's about it. It was always just kinda there.

How I ended up here….well, Kubo-sensei showed up at my house and told my parents. Thankfully, they were very accepting of my 'condition' and I can still go see them on the weekends. I'm one of the lucky ones. Not everyone had such supporting family. I heard some crazy stories. For example, I heard someone got kicked out of his house when he was eight years old. Someone else's family was made of a group of gypsies and after a fight in the camp they tied him to a tree and left him. A girl was kidnapped by a group of scientists who experimented on her. Someone else joined the circus as a kid. A lot of people were street artist who earned money by performing magical tricks to the people walking by. Some people were young criminals and used to be in a gang. A lot also got dropped at an orphanage when she was five years old.

But those are just rumours.

I got sick of wandering around the girls' dorm this particular afternoon, so I decided to stretch my legs in the school's garden. The sun really did seem to do his best to make the flowers look even more beautiful in his light. With all those stories in my head, I didn't feel as blessed as I should be. I felt sorry for them, for the people that weren't as loved as I was.

I held my notebook and pencil case closer to me and sighed. It seemed I could be too dramatic sometimes.

As I entered the garden, I noticed some of my classmates were there as well. They were sitting on the ground in a circle, and a part of me hesitated if I should join them. I could be shy at times.

But what could it hurt? They're just my classmates, that's all.

"Hey guys, how are you holding up?" I said, and a few turned their heads. Sasha shrugged.

"Not great. I know nothing about any of the subjects. I got nothing to work with." She crouched a little to the right to make room for me to sit. "Join is in the writer's block."

"Sounds…depressing" I said, crossing my legs so my skirt wouldn't be too revealing.

"It is" Greg yawned. For some reason, his brother wasn't around. Neither was Caroline, who always stuck with Sasha. Samdy was here, which was odd by itself, and without Ibisan. It seemed as if everyone needed some new air to lift their spirits.

"This whole assignment is bullshit" he grumbled, tapping with his pen on the empty paper. "Especially for the people that don't have the best memories of their own magic."

Sasha sighed. "OK, we get it, you had a rough time, like everyone. Why don't you put those feelings into words. You'll be able to write about thirty pages about it."

Samdy shrugged. "That might've been the best idea I've ever heard coming from you, miss Crybaby."

Sasha's cheeks turned red, and she mumbled some curse words in Samdy's direction. I remember her crying, after the meditation lesson of Gajeel. We all saw visions of what our magic was capable of. Her vision must've been something really emotional or something.

"Let's just focus on the assignment" I sighed softly, and Sasha nodded. Samdy leaned back, resting on his elbows. Didn't seem like we would be getting much help from him.

Greg made his pencil float in mid-air, but could only hold it for about half a minute. But he kept trying to prolong his concentration, but it looked rather dumb if you ask me.

I turned my eyes on the empty page I was planning on writing my essay on. I started with thinking of a title.

 _My life as a mage up till now_

 _I, Lily_

 _The legend of me_

 _The Myth of my magical existence_

I grunted. I was bad with these sorts of things. In the end, I decided to go for something simple; _My magic._

Chronologically speaking, I should answer the question of when I first knew I had magic first. I must've been like ten years old or something. I was playing with some kids on the soccer field near my house. One of the neighbour's kids had this soap and she was making the most beautiful bubbles. I wanted to play along and dove my hands in the bucket as well. All the kids did. We would make a circle of our index finger and thumb and blow into the soap. A bubble would appear and fly through the air, before exploding after a few seconds.

Every two minutes, you had to get new soap on your hands. All the kids did so, except me. I could keep going, even when my hands had dried up. I could keep going and going, and the bubbles I blew would fly around aimlessly, not exploding at all. It was later that I discovered that I was the only one that could make them explode. I would _order_ them.

For as long as I could remember, I was able to make bubbles, but it was the first time I realized it wasn't normal. Not everyone was capable of what I could do.

At first, the kids in the neighbourhood loved it. They would always come play with me and ask me to 'do the trick'. But the older I got, the stranger I became to those kids.

I kept it a secret from my parents for a long time, un till Kubo-sensei appeared at our doorstep. My mother was crying, but she was also happy. She finally knew why I looked so unhappy all the time.

I put down my pen, and went through all the words I'd put on paper, correcting some grammatical errors here and there.

"Wow, you're actually going pretty good" Sasha said amazed, as she leaned over to my side to see the length of my essay. I shrugged.

"I started with the easy question, and I think I just answered three in one go. The one about the first experience, how I got here, and what I know of my magic."

"May I read it?" Sasha asked, and I nodded. There wasn't any secret written in there, so why not? And she'd probably found it helpful for her own essay. Or maybe she was curious about me as a person as well.

When she finished reading, she nodded, with a sad smile on her face. "You sure are lucky with the kind of parents you have."

"Yeah…" I said softly. Sasha bumped her elbow into my arm.

"Sorry to be such a downer, I'm just a bit jealous. My parents invited a priest into our house to perform an exorcism to get 'the demon out of my body'. Good think Headmaster Kubo knocked on the door." Sasha pulled her knees up to her chin and sighed. "I haven't spoken with any of my parents ever since."

There was a short silence, till Samdy broke it by letting out a sarcastic snort. Sasha looked up, annoyed. "What?"

Samdy sat up, with a grin on his face, suggesting a little bit of craziness somewhere in there. "With a story like that, you can call yourself lucky as well. My parents…." He stopped mid-sentence, and the grin disappeared from his face. He shook his head. "Why do I even bother telling you? It doesn't concern anyone, not even that Gajeel."

He leaned back, as if he'd ended the discussion he started in the first place. Greg lifted an eyebrow, still playing with the pencil in his hand.

"Floyd and I were in the circus. The crowd loved us, the crew not so much." He chuckled. "The famous 'Legendary Twin Sorcerers of Enchantment'. Such a lame name, but we rocked it anyway."  
He dropped the pencil, staring at the ground with a smile. With his index finger, he slowly rubbed over a scar on his lower arm, that went from his elbow to his hand. It was a thin and long scar, with pinkish tissue. It seemed a few years old, and was probably made by a sharp knife.

"Yeah" he mumbled. "The clowns really despised us."

 **Name: Layton Warlock**

 **Age: 15**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

In my case, all the answers were simply found. I could easily finish my essay, and so I had a day off, since I never made any homework for other classes.

It was only because I liked the way this Gajeel guy thought. He reminded me of my mentor, Big Boss Bowser, or so he was called by the police.

I spent the remaining time of the day looking for a certain individual, who happened to be my roommate and one of my best pals. According to Gajeel, we use the same kind of magic, which makes us even more like brothers.

There was something I had been wanting to ask him all morning, but I couldn't find the right moment. When I woke up, he'd already left the dorm. He hadn't shown up at breakfast, and in class, every time I tried to get his attention, the teacher would interrupt. During lunch break, he had disappeared as well.

Kai can be such a dick sometimes. Can't believe I'm calling an ass like that my friend.

"Hey, you guys" I said when I found a group of my classmates in the school's garden. "Has any of you seen Kai around?"

Lily shook her head. "No, not really. Is something wrong?"

"Nah, nothing to worry about, I just need to borrow some of his notes."

Samdy chuckled. "As if Kai makes notes in class."

"Very unlikely, indeed" Greg mumbled.

"Tch" I spit, turning around. "Whatever. When you see him, just tell him I'm looking for him."

"Do you need any help finding him?" Lily asked, already getting up. "I finished my homework, so I could-"

"No, it's fine" I snapped, and it sounded more aggressive than I intended. Lily looked surprised by it as well. "Sorry, just….it's personal."

After saying that, I quickly turned around and left. Lily could be too nice sometimes. Too nice for her own good.

I kept swarming around the school building, before making the conclusion that he wasn't there. I got tired of the awkward eye contact with teachers in their free time, so I decided to think out of the box. And it kinda worked out.

I found him outside, in the forest, close to the spot where we'd meditated with mister Redfox.

"Kai! Hey! I've been looking all over for you!"

I saw his silhouette between the trees. He leaned forward a little bit, as if he was tired or something. His back went up and down, as if he was breathing heavily. When I got closer, I could see sweat dripping down his face.

"Hey man, are you ok?"

He didn't answer. I got even closer, placing my hand on his back. With that soft touch, he jacked his head towards me. I took a step back, surprised by the look in his eyes. Or rather, the colour of it.

They were black as night. As if his pupils had gotten bigger and were no covering his entire eyeballs.

"K-Kai…?"

He grinned, and from his throat a laughter erupted. He stumbled on his feet, his head thrown backwards.

"Awesome! Fricking awesome!" he screamed in madness.

"What the….Kai, get yourself together, man. This ain't funny!"

Another laughter as an answer. "Not funny, he says! My friend, you don't know half the fun in this!"

With a trembling arm, he pointed at the ground behind him.

It was split into two. Ripped apart. Separated as if there were two new islands. A huge rip went from the spot where Kai stood, all the way to where I couldn't see it anymore. The ripping hadn't made any exceptions; it went through trees trunks, bushes, even the river up ahead.

"Wha….did you do this?"

Kai nodded, his black eyes glimmering. "Oh, hell yes I did. And I'll do it again. And again." He giggled, almost like a school girl, and I felt a shiver going down my spine. He took a step towards me. "You know, now I wonder….can I split people into two?"

I stumbled back. "H-hey, don't go there, man. You'll regret it big time, trust me!"

"Trust, huh?" he sniggered. "You know, I once trusted someone. I put my life on the line for her. And what did she do?" His black eyes suddenly teared up, while his mouth still had that awful insane smile. He took his head in his hands, pulling at his brown hair. "She tried to kill me! She….she….she was the monster! Not me!"

An awful scream, that seemed to come straight from his sorrowful heart, filled the forest and made the trees tremble.

I couldn't believe this. The always easy-going, social guy, my classmate, roommate, and above all, my friend, was tearing himself apart.

He fell on his knees, bowing his head. "AAHAAAWAAAAHHH!"

I stepped back even more, afraid to come any closer. He seemed to be in pain, somehow, and there was nothing I could do but watch in horror. The ground under my feet started shaking, as if it responded to his pain. It suddenly seemed to have gotten colder around me. Kai was controlling everything, or rather; he wasn't.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud, and Kai fell face down in the grass. The ground stopped shaking, and the temperature returned to normal.

I blinked, confused and disorientated.

"Hey, kid" a deep voice sounded in the chaos.

"Mister….Redfox?"

My teacher stood next to Kai's unconscious body, his fist still in the air on the spot where he'd hit his head. Without any trouble, mister Redfox lifted Kai up and hung him over his shoulder.

"Come with me" he said, as he turned around.

I frowned, my brain unable to comprehend what just happened. Gajeel started walking alongside the rip in the ground, with Kai dangling over his shoulder. After a little hesitation, I followed him, wherever it was he was going to.


	8. Chapter 8: Secrets

**Hey!**

 **How did y'all like last week's chapter? I had a lot of fun writing it, especially the last part...if you've read one of my TWD fanfics (Survivor's Diary); this was what I had in mind for Vicky's (the OC and main character) persona, but I'm glad I didn't go along with it :)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 8: Secrets_

 **Name: Jacob 'Jake' Malicious**

 **Age: 14**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, class B3C, wizard in training**

As always, I had finished my homework just minutes before the bell sounded. I turned in my paper with a few coffee stains and a lot of scraps and cuts, but I finished it. I barely did any homework. Besides, what's the point of going to a magic school if there's no business for wizards? Especially not like us.

So why do I even try?

Gajeel's class might be the only one where I actually feel like I should try doing something, even if it's only for the fun of it. And what a character he is. He would fit right in some kind of ridiculous fighting game, like Mortal Combat, or Dead Or Alive.

Today was the deadline for the essay, and I think everyone actually wrote something, even the twins. It might be only three sentences, but still, they did it.

Gajeel gathered all the papers and sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to read these sometime." He opened one of the empty drawers of the teacher's desk, and shoved all our hard work in there. "And I'm probably gonna disappoint y'all again….not that I really care…but we'll be staying inside again." There was some moaning here and there, and the twins, of course, handed over the price of the newest bet they'd made. "And his class's gonna be pretty boring as well, since we'll be doing one-on-one conversations." The moaning turned into confusion. Gajeel crossed his big arms, looking grumpy as always. "I'll be calling each one of you individually into my office, where we'll have a chat."

"Since when does he have an office?" Martin whispered, who sat next to me. I shrugged.

"Dunno. Must be the old hag's place or something."

Gajeel scratched behind his ear. "Well, who'll be the first?"

I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone was raising his or her hand, and suddenly noticed we missed a few people. I knew Kai got caught up in a car accident yesterday, and Layton had taken a few days off to help him recover. Tilly seemed to have a cold or something, and Lily said Rose wasn't feeling well either. Our class wasn't that big to begin with, and now, with a few missing, we really looked lonely.

"Jake," my name suddenly sounded, and I looked up. Gajeel grinned. "You're up first. Come with me."

The heads of my classmates all turned around and seemed to watch me closely as I stood up from behind my desk, and walked to the front of the room. Gajeel nodded towards the door, gesturing me to lead, which seemed odd since he was the teacher. But I did as he said, and wait in the hall.

"The rest of you…go make homework for some other class. See ya." Then he shut the door. Without a word, he started walking. Well, more like stamping, since it seemed he couldn't walk like a normal person. Then again; he was a person that beat up dragons.

"I'm getting quite the hang of it" I heard him mumble. I'm not sure if he was saying that to me or himself.

We turned around a corner, and went up a staircase. Halfway up, I realized we were going the wrong way.

"Uhm, sir, the office is the other way around" I said, and Gajeel stopped abruptly, causing me to almost bump into him.

"Don't ask any questions. Just wait 'till where there." Both his face and his voice were blood serious and highly terrifying. I quickly nodded, a little shocked by the sudden change of atmosphere. This wasn't just a talk, this was something very serious. I got the feeling that it doesn't even concern schoolwork at all.

When we got to the second floor, we went left. This was the part of the building where the library was stationed, at the other end is the Girl's dorm, but I'm pretty sure that's not what Gajeel was going for. He didn't seem like the kind of person that visits a library too often either, and that is confirmed when we went right, the opposite direction. In this hall, there was only one room; the janitor's closet.

Suddenly, a bunch of weird scenarios came to mind, but once we pass the closet they disappear. I wanted to ask where the hell we're going, but I was afraid I'd just get the same answer as before.

Again(why does he keep doing that) Gajeel stopped abruptly, and this time the tip of my nose touched him slightly. I quickly took a few steps back, hoping he didn't notice.

We were standing in front of a wall. This hall was a dead end. What the hell is he playing at…?

"Hikari" Gajeel said, and the way he did made it sound like some sort of spell. And maybe it was, because a door appeared, where there was a wall just minutes ago. I gasped. It wasn't the first time I saw magic, but it was the first time I saw magic like this.

"Don't shit your pants over something as small as this, punk" he grumbled, as he searched through his pockets, probably for the key.

I looked around anxiously. Something told me we were doing something no one could know, not even my classmates and definitely not other teachers.

Gajeel unlocked the door, and turned around before opening it. "Listen up, kid. What I'm about to show you is something you gotta keep to yourself. None of your friends can know. It's just between you, me, and the people that are in there as well. Try not to freak out too much, otherwise other people will hear us. Got it?"

I nodded hesitantly. What was going on? Gajeel stared at me for a few seconds, as if he wanted to make sure he made the right decision bringing me here. At the moment, I figured he was very wrong in doing that. Later on, I'd come to realize it was his only option in order to save Kai.

 **Name: Levy McGarden**

 **Age: 17**

 **Occupation: Wizard of Script Magic, member of the Fairy Tail guild.**

"Master! You there?"

A deep voice sounded from behind the bar. I looked up from my book, taking of my glasses. There shone a light from behind the counter, and it looked urgent.

I turned my head to warn Mira, but she seemed busy with serving drinks.

"Is someone there? Oi!"

My heart skipped a beat. I knew that voice. What an unusual person to be calling the master like this. Master must've asked Mira to answer all the incoming calls while he was visiting some nearby guild. A new one popped up recently, and the master wanted to make some things clear about work space and such.

"Eh…Mira!" I tried, but she didn't hear me over all the laughter and chatting from everyone else in the guild. "Someone is calling for the master!"

"Hey! You!" the voice suddenly said. I froze. Did he hear me?

"M-me?"

"Yes, you! Just pick up the damn lacrima!"

I looked over my shoulder to Mira, but she seemed to be having a chat with her brother. Carefully, I climbed on top of the counter, and jumped down. On a shelf just under the sink lay a lacrima on top of a small pillow. Gajeel's grumpy face was looking straight at me.

"EEEK!" I screamed, and immediately put a hand over my mouth. I hoped no one heard that. It was embarrassing enough that Gajeel heard it.

"Shut up" he grumbled. "Where's the master?"

I blinked, a little confused. Gajeel seemed much better than when he left. Most of the bruises on his face were gone, and the sad look in his eyes seemed to have been replaced with something else. Going on a job seemed to really take his mind off his problems within the guild. Especially with Shadow Gear…

"H-he's not here right now. But he'll be back by tonight. I'll tell him you called."

Gajeel grunted. "I don't have time to wait till tonight. Can't you just…pass the message or something? It's really important."

"Y-yeah, no problem." Oh gosh, I was really making a fool out of myself. Stuttering like some idiot. "Is…is everything alright?"

Although he didn't say it and almost didn't show it in his facial expression, he was surprised that I asked. But I was genuinely worried about him. I still feel guilty about what happened the other day.

"Yes" he said abruptly. "Now listen up. I got some trouble at my side."

Straight back to business, huh? Well, I guessed he really didn't have any time for small talk.

"Wait, I'll grab some pen and paper" I said, pushing myself off the ground. I leaned forward over the counter, grabbing a paper from under my book and the pen I was taking notes with.

"Oi! Don't stand in front of the lacrima like that!" I suddenly heard him say. That's when I remembered I was wearing a skirt. He was literally looking at my panties when I was lunging over the counter…

"S-sorry!" I stuttered as I sat down, desperately trying to cover up my legs as much as possible. Gajeel scratched behind his ear, as if he didn't see a thing, but the blush on his cheeks told a different story. He was embarrassed, which seemed totally unlike him.

"What're you smiling at?!" he growled.

"N-nothing. Eh…what's the message?"

Gajeel sighed, and I had to keep myself from smiling any more, but his embarrassed face was just so….adorable.

"Well, the thing is…it's better if you don't know what it's about" he said, scratching the back of his head, as if he had to really think about it. "I'll just say it in a way you'll never guess it. Just make sure you write everything down, ok?"

I nodded. "Roger that."

Gajeel sighed. "Here it comes; Your suspicions are correct. I won't be coming back in a long time."

I hesitated, before writing. It wasn't that long of a message, but those few words scared me. What was he doing over there?

"That's all" he said after I stopped writing.

I sighed. "I'll pass this on to master once he returns."

"Cool, thanks." Gajeel glanced over his shoulder for a second, as if he made sure no one was eavesdropping. "I better go. Got some…paperwork."

"I see. Well…I guess I'll see you in the guild once you're done with this job…"

"Yeah…"

"Uhm…Gajeel?"

"What?"

"Whatever you're doing over there...be careful."

"Yeah…thanks."


	9. Chapter 9: Tough Homework

**Heyo!**

 **Yes, I have returned. I don't wanna brag, but I kinda worked overnight to finish this chappie, because I felt guilty for not uploading for so long. And because I wanted to get on with the mystery in this story, which is awesome to write.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 9: Tough homework_

 **Name: Martin Clickers**

 **Age: 14**

 **Occupation: Student at MSM, Class B3C, wizard in training**

"You want us to do _what?!"_

Samdy spoke for all of us. When Gajeel revealed our next assignment, everyone reacted shocked, me as well. I completely forgot my worries about Jake for a second, who came back all pale from his talk with Gajeel, and the day after he said he wasn't feeling good. Today he said the same, so he stayed in bed. There seemed to be some sickness spreading around in school, although most of the people who weren't present last time had recovered. They didn't miss much from Gajeel's class, but the shock might be a little greater for Rose, Tilly and Layton than the rest. They missed at least one class of meditation the other day, where we did some practice on how to enlarge your power by concentrating.

I was able to discover what kind of magic I actually use, and well, I was kinda disappointed. I make the air tremble a little, that's all. Gajeel told every single one of us what kind of magic we use, meaning he put everyone in a family tree of magic, so to speak. I was put in shielding, like many others, but I wasn't sure what I would be shielding from. With meditation class last week I learnt that it's basically like this; when someone throws something at me, the trembling in the air in front of me breaks it into tiny pieces. That's it. That's literally it.

And that's basically where everyone is right now. And he's giving us this assignment.

"I want you to create your own offensive spell and defensive spell" Gajeel repeated, and he wasn't not joking. Not that I could ever see him joking about anything, but even this seemed rare for him, especially after all the paperwork he made us do before.

"Are you insane?" Samdy spat, jumping out of his seat. "We're a joke! We're greenies! We can't just do something like that over the weekend!"

Samdy just always knew how to boost everyone's confidence.

"He's right, we could never pull that off!" Sasha agreed, to my and everyone else's surprise. Gajeel lifted one of his creepy eyebrows.

"Do you honestly believe I would make you do something you can't?"

Samdy sniggered. "Quit the nobleman-shit. You're mocking us."

And here I thought he was actually starting to respect Gajeel as a teacher. I didn't like the homework either, but it is what the course 'Magic Practice' supposed to be. The concept sounded good, but maybe he should've waited a little longer before pushing us this far. Looking back now, though, he maybe even should've started earlier, but back then none of us could've known things would turn out the way that they did.

Gajeel shrugged. "I'm the teacher here. I tell you what to do. If you don't; you'll fail the course. Suit yourselves."

"Teachers are supposed to motivate us to become better" Caroline said with a high pitched voice. "You're nothing like that."

Gajeel grunted annoyed. "You guys are really pushing me-"

" _We're_ pushing _you_?! Dude!" Ibisan slammed his fist on his desk.

"This is madness" Ary whispered while shaking her head.

"Can't we go back to the meditation with visions, please?" Greg begged.

"Unbelievable" Caroline stated, emotion in her voice.

"Shut up" Gajeel grumbled.

"Yo, I'm leaving" Floyd said, standing up. "I can't deal with this."

"I knew this was a bad idea" Sasha grunted, grabbing her bag from the floor.

It was just chaos. Some people were putting their stuff in their bags, others were literally screaming at the teacher, and a few seemed to almost be bursting into tears. They were panicking over homework, which sounded ridiculous in a regular high school context. But this school was made for different people. People with powers they themselves don't understand.

The way I saw it, it could be described like this; everyone had a half done bomb in their hands which they needed to both disable and finish. We were all afraid of our powers, we had no idea what we were capable of. The word 'offense' sounded scary as hell. We couldn't do that. That bomb could go off in our faces if we tried that.

From what I've heard, some people actually had that kind of experience already, and this assignment was only remembering them from it. From what happened after.

I was probably one of the few people that just sat in silence, just watching the class go wild. I was probably sweating, because I was scared as well, but the others weren't. And it so happened to be the people that were absent last week.

Layton was toying with his pencil in his hand, Tilly stared at the schoolboard and Rose played on her phone. Looking at them, it seemed as if nothing was going on. Just a normal school day. It was what they looked like during History of Magic, which was the most unexciting course of all. They seemed so…calm. It might've been the sickness that hadn't worn off completely causing them to be a little less concentrated, but still weird.

"I said; SHUT UP!" Gajeel's voice forced himself through my eyes and my ears rang. The whole group went silent, staring at the teacher that made the walls tremble by just opening his mouth. From the corner of my eye I could see sliding down from its needle.

Gajeel looked pissed, really pissed. Madly furious. I'd never seen him like that before. His eyes seemed to be two burning pits of red, his eyebrows were bent down so far they almost touched each other. His mouth was just one straight line. He seemed to have the need to take a breath before talking again.

"You listen up, you idiots! I don't have time for you dimwits to lack confidence! I'm not here to boost you up, I'm not here to teach you morals, or to hold your hand! I'm here because I need money and you need a teacher that knows magic. That's all there is to it. That crap about motivation and confidence is something that needs to come from you, not me. My motivation is my loan. Yours should be to become better, stronger. I've seen that you all have the potential to become an actual wizard and this coming from a person that grew up in a world where magic isn't as much as an art as here. Magic is something of everyday use where I come from. Not anyone is as good to make a living out of it. You think you're freaks over here. Guess what? Over there, you're a freak too. And I'm one of them. If I were mocking you I would've left a long time ago, because that's no fun." He seemed to calm down a little bit, but was still grumpy. "Besides; you don't know half that's going on in this so called 'school for magic'. If you fail to develop yourselves, you'll better pack your bags and leave now."

It was silent for a while, and I took that time to look around at the others. To my surprise, I saw Rose, Tilly and Layton eye each other for a second, as if they knew something we didn't. Something fishy was going on, and Gajeel was right. We didn't know half of it.

 **Kuchiha Riguko**

Headmaster Kubo ordered me to clean and sort out his file cases, which was a whole lot of work. He seemed to have his own agenda, which didn't really concern the school in any way. He would leave early in the morning and come back in the middle of the night, always with a grin on his face. He was a scary man, but this just sent those few extra shivers down my spine.

He had a few conversations with mister Redfox as well, which I still didn't want to get involved with. It sounded to conspiracy-like to me.

When he asked me to clean out his office including the file cases, I felt like I should read as much as nothing that was written in there. Despite those thoughts, I found myself looking at a blueprint I found in the lowest drawer, carefully folded in a file called 'Operation Raven'.

The blueprint seemed to be self-made, with side notes here and there with Kubo's handwriting. The title, or at least I assumed it was what the thing was supposed to be called, said 'Squid'. The blueprint itself didn't really reveal anything that looked like the sea creature, the only thing that could slightly hint it would've been the long tentacle-like pipes drawn as if they were supposed to be build underground.

The blueprint mostly showed the school building, so with a first glance I though it concerned a renovation, since the building is rather old. As in build in the 1800's. But when I looked closer, I could see that there was some mentioning about a basement. I knew there was one, but there was only the food storage. Kubo seemed to want to dig one underneath that to build 'Squid'.

There was a second blueprint with the name 'Squid 2', which showed what it was supposed to look like; basically a monster. What was the Headmaster doing with something like this? He was creating something living underneath the school.

I narrowed my eyes to read the side note, which announced the date it was supposed to be 'activated', which was only a few weeks from now. What was he planning?

"Interesting, isn't?"

I quickly turned around to see my boss standing in the doorway. He had that creepy grin around his lips and his eyes sparkled over his dark glasses.

"Mister Kubo!" I stuttered, crawling up from the ground, the mass of papers flying around my ears. "I didn't expect you to return so soon."

He shrugged, as he took of his coat. "I felt rather tired today, so I'd like to go to bed early. But, well…there seems to be a change of plans, I see."

With his hands in his pockets, he slowly stepped towards me. The clock in his office seemed to be ticking awfully loud.

"I'm so sorry for….invading your privacy like this" I started, holding my hands up in front of me. He threw his head in his neck and laughed, his belly going up and down with every shock.

"What's the matter? I'm not going to attack you or anything." He continued to step forward, till he stood about one foot away from me. "I asked you to clean and sort out this…mess" he said while looking around the piles of papers on the ground, "maybe I wanted you to find something like this."

I suddenly realized I was still holding the second blueprint. It was almost being ripped apart by my shaking hands. With a nonchalant swing Kubo pulled the paper away from my fingers.

"Ah, yes. My masterpiece" he said, looking proud. "Took some years to complete it, but it was all worth it. And we might even get it to…well, 'work' might not be the way to put it, but… 'live' sounds so dramatic, don't you think?"

He looked over his glasses at me, expecting an answer. I quickly nodded, my mouth was too dry to form words of any sort.

"Everything's going really well, actually. But…I see now that there are some complications." He slowly folded paper, and carefully lay it down on his desk. "You understand, right?"

I nodded again, moving back. But there was only a wall behind me. I had nowhere to go. He grinned.

"Good. So you understand that you can't tell anyone about this, right?"

I nodded as if my life depended on it.

"If you don't…well, then I'll have to do some things that will make you shut your mouth."

"I understand" I said softly, taking a quick breath. Kubo held out his hand, gesturing me to shake it, as if sealing a deal.

"A sworn Vendetta, you hear?"


	10. Chapter 10: Rich man's slingshot

**Two regular uploads?! Hell yeah it feels good to be back!**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 10: Rich man's slingshot_

 **Samdy**

I wiped the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand. This sucked, but I could kinda see what Gajeel meant the other day. I was stronger than I thought, but I wasn't there just yet.

Since our last class for today was cancelled (Astronomy, blergh) all of us basically had the afternoon off. During lunch, all of my classmates were planning on doing the homework Gajeel put us up with, and they all wanted to go to the forest to practice. Some went to the river, others to the beach.

No one thought to just do it in the gym, except for me. I liked it quiet, especially with this kind of stuff. I needed to concentrate in order to make my useless power useful.

Taking a deep breath, I rose my arm in front of me. I closed my eyes, as a sort of meditation which Gajeel taught us, and gathered all the warmth towards my hand.

I figured offence would be the most difficult to do, so I decided to start with that, so defence would be easier.

My opponent for the day was a wooden dummy I found somewhere in the back of the closet where the gym equipment was being held. It looked like the last remaining thing from when the school had just opened. It was old as hell, so if it broke it wouldn't really matter.

Not that my power seemed to have any effect on it. My biggest accomplishment was to make it move back an inch, which could also be just my imagination, but it made me feel like I was progressing a little.

With the word 'offensive magic', I could only think of a magic blast hurting the opponent, but I couldn't see how my elastic powers would fit into that.

Gajeel, playing the good teacher, made us a form with guidelines and requirements to our offensive and defensive spells, full of grammatical errors, but easy to understand.

It had to have a name, didn't necessarily have to knock out the opponent if it was offensive, just stun them for a bit, we had to find out the weaknesses in both spells and write them down and what how we think we could improve the spells.

From the one hour I was there, I accomplished basically nothing. My hand got warm, that's all, and it was very, very frustrating.

"Raah!" I shouted at one point, angry at myself, the world and most of all my retarded teacher. I sat down on the gym mats I had lay down everywhere, just in case I'd damage the floor or something, and grabbed the form again. I went to the page that said 'Ofensif spel – options'. I chuckled at the title, but it didn't last for long. I went over the few things Gajeel had written down to help us come up with ideas;

Fisical damage

Mental damage

Forging a weapon

Jeez, Gajeel made even dyslectics feel bad for him.

I tried physical(take notes, mister Redfox), but it didn't do much. Mental wasn't really my thing, since elastic can't do much to the brain. And besides; there wasn't much mental going on in the wooden dummy.

My eyes were stuck at the word 'weapon' for a while. I hadn't tried that yet, since I didn't think I'd be able to forge elastic out of thin air. Up to this point I'd only transformed physical(see, Gajeel?) objects, so I'd need something else to make a weapon.

I grabbed my backpack and searched for my pen case. A pencil or something should be enough.

Without even trying very hard, I only had to squint my eyes a little, there lay an elastic rope in my hand. I grinned. Maybe I was getting somewhere after all.

I had to stand up and concentrate a little harder in order to change it back. I had been practising in releasing the transformation for a couple weeks now, and it paid off.

I lifted the pencil in front of me, holding it in both my hands, pointing at the dummy. I closed my eyes, took deep breaths, and sent my magic towards my hands, but I didn't release it just yet. I wanted to make a real weapon, not just an elastic rope. I had to gather more power to make it work. So I counted to ten, then thirty, a minute. When I opened my eyes, I let go. I even heard myself say 'Release!'

There was a bright light coming from the pencil in my hands, and I could feel it getting bigger. It was changing its form in just a few seconds, and then it spurted forward, towards the dummy. The power of the shot pushed me back, my feet slipping over the gym mat I stood on. I heard a loud 'DANG', and when the light of my magic faded away my elastic rope had hit the wall behind the dummy.

"Shit" I grumbled, thinking I'd missed, but then I noticed the head of the wooden dummy had disappeared. I frowned, and attempted to pull back my rope, which should be easy, since it was elastic, but it felt rather heavy. I pulled harder, but the end of the rope was stuck in the wall.

I walked over to the spot, and when I passed the dummy I could see smoke rising from where the head used to be. The hole in the wall was also smoking a little, at the ground lay some splinters, remains of the head. In the wall itself a stone was embedded, which wasn't there before.

I took a closer look, and saw the shiny stone was connected to my rope. With the tip of my index finger, I carefully touched it, but as soon as my skin contacted the diamond it shattered in a million pieces, along with my rope. It slipped through my hands, and before I realized it my pencil was laying at my feet.

I stepped back, a little dazed. I was so confused. I had actually forged a weapon myself. A rope with a diamond at the end, some rich man's slingshot.

"Rich man's slingshot" I whispered, putting my hands behind my head. Then I started laughing. I did it. I actually did it.

I basically ran over to my bag, grabbed the form and started writing down everything I'd just seen. I was never so excited to be doing my homework.

"You know you'll probably have to pay for that, right?" a voice suddenly sounded, interrupting my euphoria. I looked up from my paper to see Sasha standing in the entrance, her eyes widened, impression all over her face.

 **Sasha**

"What are you doing here?" Samdy asked, slightly annoyed as he returned to his writing. I walked over to him, still staring at the hole in the wall.

"I just finished my defensive spell and thought, but I forgot to bring my form to practice." I sat down on the mat, his bag separating us. "I heard some destruction over here and I was worried."

He chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about, he's gonna be fine."

I glanced at the headless dummy, and I couldn't help but say it. "You know, you're kind of amazing."

Samdy's head swiftly turned in my direction, so quick it even scared him. "Well…yeah, I guess you can say practice worked out for me." He blushed, as he turned over his papers again. I rolled my eyes.

"You know, there's a kind of sentence you say when someone compliments you on something."

Samdy grunted annoyed. "I'm too busy to show appreciation for you being here. Besides; I don't think there is any."

I narrowed my eyes. "Since when is doing homework your thing?"

He sighed. "Since this homework actually is useful for me and my interests. What? You wanna be homework buddies or something? No thank you."

I decided to ignore that last part. "It is quite useful this time, yes. Although we all really hated it in the beginning, I think everyone's starting to come around. Caroline already finished both her spells, she's a natural it seems. And Lily's defences are just unbreakable from what I've seen. And Ibisan is starting to look really dangerous, but he's very good." I sigh. "And now there's you too, who's able to blow a dummy's head off with a first try."

Samdy suddenly stopped writing. "How do you know that?"

I lifted my eyebrows. "Know what?"

Samdy put the papers away. "That it was my first try?"

I feel my cheeks turning red. I talked too much.

Samdy snickers. "Just for how long have you been standing there? What are you, a stalker?"

I shook my head furiously. "No, of course not! And even if I was, I wouldn't stalk you! I was just…trying to get some inspiration for my own offensive spell."

He shook his head. "Damn, I'm an inspiration."

I stood up from the mat, flattening my skirt. "Hope you feel blessed, because not everyone's a natural."

I felt like a little kid when I walk off, but I feel too embarrassed to stay. Especially with that jerk. I don't want to be seen like this by him, because he would tell the rest.

"Hey, wait up!" I heard him say when I'm almost at the door. "C'mon, Sasha, you'll make me feel bad for you."

"Don't bother" I mumbled. I heard footsteps, and suddenly he stood in front of me. "Get out of my way."

"Remember the tip?"

I felt my eyes burning, I needed to get out of there. Bowing my head, I tried to push him aside, but he wouldn't move. "No I don't. Now let me pass."

"Gajeel said we could practice together if we wanted to know if our spells worked" he said, ignoring me completely. He seemed to block the exit with all he had and it really annoyed me. "Show me what you got."

I lifted my head. "What?"

His brown eyes twinkled of excitement. "Let me attack you. Then you use your defensive spell. It's just a test, to see if it works."

I stepped back, already feeling a change in the atmosphere. And I didn't like it. "Are you insane? I've only practiced it once! I can't even hold it for more than thirty seconds!"

"So do I" he said, taking a step towards me. "It's just practice. I promise, I won't hurt you or anything."

I glanced at the headless dummy. "You promise?"

He nodded, folding his hands together as if he was about to say a prayer. "I promise."

He stepped away from the exit, still looking at me, basically begging me to stay. I folded my arms, and shook my head. I couldn't believe I was actually agreeing to this.

Samdy rushed over to the hole in the wall, where on the ground his pencil still lay. He picked it up and put it behind his ear. He then put his arms around the dummy and started dragging it away from the wall.

"Little help?" he grunted. I sighed and walked over to help him. When we'd put the dummy back into place, we took our positions. I took stand where the dummy had gotten his head blown off earlier, and Samdy next to his bag.

"Ok, you first" he said. I frowned.

"It's better if you have your shield ready before I attack" he explained. "If we do it the other way around, you might not be able to call it forth soon enough and get hurt."

That made me frown even more. Was his Samdy talking to me? The same Samdy that called me names every time we saw each other? That always screwed up my hair, and pranked me whenever he had the chance? It was almost like he was actually worried about me. But I wouldn't fall for that. His true nature could come out any time soon.

I concentrated, closed my eyes, and sent forth my magic. A blurry mass appeared in front of me, blocking my sight completely. I really had to trust Samdy right now.

"Not bad" was all I could hear from him. It made me smile a little.

"I haven't named it yet" I answered softly.

"We'll think of something." Then I heard him take a deep breath. After a while, he said; "OK, I'm gonna attack now. You ready?"

"Yeah. Come at me."

He took one more breath.

"RICH MAN'S SLINGSHOT!"


	11. Chapter 11: Destructo

**Heya!**

 **Chapter 11 is here! Quick, go read it!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 11: Destructo_

 **Ibisan**

I grinned at the smoke rising from the stone I just hit with my offensive spell. The 'Bear's King Claw', as I liked to call it, left a dark mark on the big rock and it was oh so satisfying.

It was the first time since I entered the school I had made my homework without copying others. I really did this all on my own, and I never felt more proud.

I even had my defensive spell, which was born with the name 'Turtle's Fury', mastered already. I was starting to think Gajeel might be right about us. We do have talent, although he didn't use that exact word, he basically said we all had it. Wait, what was it again? He said we all had 'it', or something. No, that's not it.

Potential! That was the word! He said we had potential. I was sure I had it.

With a grin on my lips I sat down in the grass, a little further away from the scarred rock. I still had to fill in the form, which was a bummer. Three pages of questions and assignments, blergh.

Someone behind me cleared his throat, in the way that tell you that person wants to tell you something. A little anxious I glanced over my shoulder.

There stood professor Brodan, our 'Myths and Sages'- teacher. He had his arms folded and his chin up, as if he was a real big deal. The funny this is that he was a very tiny person. The fact that I was sitting on the ground probably gave him a boost in his confidence or his feeling of authority, maybe both.

He narrowed his eyes and stared through his thick glasses. "What are you doing, mister Almond?"

I grinned again. "It might surprise you, professor, but I'm doing homework."

He stared at me for a while, no change in his expression. His eyes moved towards the black mark on the rock, and slightly lifted an eyebrow. "Then what's the meaning of this?"

I let an overdramatic sigh be heard. "I just told you, sir; homework!"

There was a grumbling coming from the small man. "If you try to be funny….well, you're not! Brining any sort of weapon into the school is illegal and you will be punished severely if caught-"

I snorted. "Sir, it's just a rock. And besides; it's homework. I'm not telling lies. Not this time."

With that said I turned back to my paper, because I really wanted to finish it. Professor Brodan walked over to the rock which he felt so sorry for and inspected it, as if a murder had been committed. I knew he was weird, but _this_ weird…

"For which class is the homework?" he asked after a while. I shrugged.

"Magic Practice."

He nodded. "I see. The new teacher, eh? The young man, with those awful atrocities in his face."

"His name is Gajeel, sir" I mumbled, but he didn't seem to listen. He stepped away from the rock, and nodded, as if he'd decided what had to be done.

"I'll go have a chat with this… 'Gazille', or whatever he calls himself" he stated, walking away in high spirits. "I'll let him know this is not the proper way of education, and I'll even inform Headmaster Kubo, and I will…"

He walked away, spurting out things like this. The thing with professor Brodan was that he was big in words but not in action. Great plans stayed plans and never became reality. The poor bastard.

But it seemed I'd gotten Gajeel in quite some trouble. If professor Brodan for once decided to turn his ideas into actions, he'll have the headmaster at his throat. As Brodan had interpreted it, Gajeel made us practice with some kind of weapons. Which is kind of ironic if you think about it, since we're all basically weapons that simply just haven't been turned on yet. Especially me. The times someone did turn the switch were no pleasant ones.

But back to the Brodan-situation. If he believed we had weapons, we might be in trouble as well. I might only have hurt a rock, but what if someone actually damages some serious school property?

The thoughts hadn't even left my mind yet, or a huge beacon of light erupted from deep within the forest. What followed was a shock wave which blew me over, my written papers slapping me in the face. It lasted for only a second, but that was enough to tell me one of my classmates really screwed up back there.

I crawled up, scratching the papers from my face. Glancing over my shoulder, I could see the lower classes run towards the windows of the school building, curious eyes pushed against the glass. I searched the horizon myself, but the light had gone just as fast as it appeared.

"I wonder who" I mumbled to myself. I went with my fingers through my messed up hair, and focused on the task at hand.

The tip of my pencil was about to hit the paper, when something else happened. Again, it had to do with Gajeel's homework.

The ground was shaking, as in earthquake-like shaking. I immediately lay flat down on my back, since running away wouldn't help. It didn't feel like a normal earthquake. It was more like something really heavy slammed down into the earth.

I heard screams and cries coming from inside the school building. Loose bricks fell down because of the shocks, windows shattered. It lasted for about thirty seconds.

In the aftermath, I just lay there, listening to the students evacuating the building and the teachers desperately trying to control them. In the situation, all I could really do was laugh.

I laughed my ass off, to say the least. Gajeel really knew what he was doing. And at the same time he had no idea.

I kinda hoped no one got hurt, and that no one hurt themselves. Those light beams and shock waves just know can be really dangerous when you're close to the source.

But my classmates weren't done destroying, because suddenly the gym exploded.

 **Caroline**

The first thing that came to mind was to run over to the destruction side. I'd just finished evacuating the girls' dorm, just in case more gas pipes would explode. Miss Lampion stated that was the cause of the explosion, but I felt differently.

For some reason, I could tell that there was magic involved. A lot of magic.

I crossed the courtyard and arrived at the scene in shock. It was a disaster.

The entire gym lay in pieces in front of my feet, dust rising from the old stone. Here and there stuck gym equipment its head up, almost human.

"Oh my god, oh my god" was all I could say, stepping back. What if there were people inside when it happened? Then they're…they're…

"Caroline! Are you alright?"

Ibisan and Layton came running onto the scene, both looking startled. Ibisan's eyes widened at the mess.

"Damn…what the hell happened here?"

I stared at the mess, closed my eyes for a bit, took a deep breath, and opened again. I'd sharpened my vision in order to see through the rubbish. All I could see where layers and layers of bricks, but I had to mentally push them away in order to see. My sight finally hit the ground, so I could see what was at the bottom of the piles. Almost immediately I hit a human hand.

I jumped up, screaming, immediately losing the moment. My eyes returned to their normal levels, but the image of the hand wouldn't go away.

"What? What did you see?" Ibisan grabbed my shoulders. I pointed at the pile, my hand trembling.

"Is someone trapped underneath?" Layton asked. Breathing heavily, I nodded. Layton's eyes widened and he froze for a second, before diving onto the mountains of stones, digging through.

"Caroline" Ibisan said, looking me in the eyes. "I know you're scared, but you have to use that power again. You have to tell us where that person is exactly, ok?"

I accomplished to hold down a sob as I quickly nodded. Ibisan let go of me, giving me a last supporting, yet stupid, grin.

I opened up my special vision again, breathing slowly. I searched the area again, and this time I came across a pair of feet. Two pair of feet, actually.

"There" I pointed. "There's two of them."

"Bear King's Claw" I heard Ibisan say, and next thing I know a gigantic grizzly was standing next to me, digging through the mess. Layton wiped sweat from his forehead, and took a deep breath before releasing his power ; "Hercules."

His entire body seemed to swell up, his muscles grew in just a few seconds. The two boys had turned into a giant and a bear, stumping into stone. Crumbles and dust flew around as they worked, listening to my directions of where to hit.

"Caroline!" I heard someone call my name. I didn't turn around, I couldn't. We had to get those people out, now. From the light footsteps on the pavement I could hear it was our smallest classmate, Ary.

"What's going on here? Is that…"

"Ibisan and Layton" I said briefly. "There's people underneath there. We're getting them out. Little to the left, Ibisan!"

"Roger that" he growled with a low voice.

"I understand" Ary said, as she sat down. She prepared to go into meditation, it seemed.

"What are you doing?" I still asked.

"I'm the only one here that specialized in healing magic" she explained. "Those people must be severely wounded and need immediate medical attention."

"Of course" I replied softly, staring at the two bodies. I hadn't perfected my technique yet, but I'd tried to see if I would be able to spot weaknesses in someone's body with my vision. Using Lily as a test subject, I was able to see her heart beating.

I tried out his new trick, squinting my eyes at the two bodies. My own heart almost dropped. One of them had stopped.

"What the hell is this?" A new voice appeared. I immediately knew it was Gajeel. I tried not to panic about the dead person and opened my mouth to explain, but he already walked past me. "Don't say. I smell people underneath."

What happened next was something I knew I'd never forget. Gajeel shouted a few words, and his right arm transformed into a massive iron sword. I gasped as I could see the insides of the weapon, which was overflowing with arteries of living magic, pulsing through from his own body.

"Get back, boys" he grumbled, lifting the sword above his head. He let it come down onto the pile of stones, immediately destroying the first four layers. He'd basically kill the two people if he wasn't careful enough.

Bits and pieces flew around our ears, and I covered my face with my arms, afraid I might get hurt.

When the dust cleared up, most of the pile had been destroyed. Gajeel panted, as if the amount of magic had been a bit too hard on his body. We hadn't seen him use his magic to this extend before, probably because of the lack of sources around here. Seeing him this burned out was an experience on its own.

I quickly rushed forward towards where I'd seen the two bodies. I almost stumbled over them, and swiftly jumped back. My eyes locked at the faces, and I suddenly felt really cold.

"Ary! ARY! Come quick!" I screamed, falling to my knees. The small girl appeared at the other side, her eyes widening for a minute. Then, as if she regained consciousness, she dashed towards the two, holding her hands in front of her.

"Oh shit" Ibisan's voice sounded from behind me. Ary's hands started glowing as she whispered words I didn't understand. Gajeel appeared behind her, his arms folded. His eyes squinted slightly at the scene, and that was it. No emotion whatsoever. No comforting words, no mental breakdown. No guilt, nothing, while I was sobbing my eyes out.

"You!" I screamed, feeling a huge lump in my throat. Gajeel didn't respond. "You did this! You caused this! You…you…you're a monster!"

"Caroline, stop" Ibisan softly said, his voice sounding thick. I turned around to look at him.

"Stop? He killed them! He…he…"

"They're not dead" Ary said, holding her hands above Sasha's chest. "Unconscious. One of them must've used a shield to prevent them from getting crushed."

"Not…dead?" I stuttered, blinking.

"Aw yes!" Ibisan shouted, tears sounding through his voice. He kneeled beside Samdy, who had both his arms put around Sasha, as if he wanted to shield her before the building collapsed. I smiled. I wonder if she knew she lay in this position. If not, I wondered what her face would look like once I told her.

Bowing my head, I started sobbing.


	12. Chapter 12: Aftermath

**Hey people!**

 **I'm doing great with the weekly uploads, aren't I? And boy oh boy, what I have in store for this story...**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 12: Aftermath_

 **Tilly**

A few days had passed since the huge explosions around the school. To me and my classmates, it was already clear what the cause was, and especially who. Sasha and Samdy lay in the hospital ward, and Ary often went to visit them to help them recover, but mostly because it was also good practice for her healing magic.

Many of the teachers who's classrooms got destroyed or damaged pointed to Gajeel as the main suspect in the case. Because of that he was suspended, so we didn't have Magic Practice for over a week, which was very frustrating. Especially with everything that was going on. He was gone for a long period of time which got me very worried and I was almost certain I had to tell the rest about the danger approaching. Layton, who was also part of our 'secret circle', obliged that idea when I asked him about it.

"We better just wait for him to come back. Besides; we don't even know half of the details."

I had sighed, and then entered Hierology without saying a word. During class I passed him a note; 'Time is ticking.'

And it was. In just eighteen days we'd be doing exams, and the danger would reveal itself. At least, that's what Gajeel said.

I was staring out the window during Myths & Sages, because I refused to pay attention to one of the people that got Gajeel suspended. He had no idea of the damage he'd done, more damage than any of us could've.

Looking at the trees swinging in the wind, I noticed a spot at the horizon. At first I thought it was just some insect stuck on the window, but it was moving closer. I narrowed my eyes, and when I managed to get a good look at the thing approaching, I almost jumped out of my seat.

"Sir?" I said, raising my hand. Professor Brodan turned his thick head in my direction.

"Yes, Miss?"

"Can I go to the restroom? It's urgent." I eyed Layton, and he frowned in disbelief. Others in our class may have seen that as a different gesture, but I didn't care. We were saved.

"Well…" I was already gone before the professor could finish his sentence. We weren't allowed to run through the halls, but I didn't care. And besides; no one could see me. I'd probably get into trouble if I walked out normally for the whole school to watch me leave the terrain.

Still invisible I approached Gajeel, who just walked up the steps. Of course, he'd already smelled me. He sighed.

"Knock it off, Tilly. Not in the mood for games."

I chuckled, but stayed unseen. "Great to see you too."

He shook his head grumbling something I couldn't understand and walked up the steps towards the school building.

"Are you coming back?" I asked, walking beside him. He shrugged.

"Kubo wanted to have a chat about the other day, that's all. I'll probably get to teach only you guys, but not the other classes."

No one could see, but I was blushing. I felt honoured. "They'll be so jealous about that."

Gajeel just grunted. "Don't get your hopes up, we haven't discussed anything yet." We entered the building through the heavy doors, onto the courtyard. "How are the lovebirds doing?"

I frowned, which he couldn't see of course, but then I realised who he meant. "Samdy and Sasha? They're fine, no real damage done. They're supposed to be released by tomorrow." I grinned. "You could visit them, you know?"

Gajeel snorted. "As if. I'm not here to play nurse."

I shrugged. "I heard it pays well."

"Don't you have somewhere to be? Like, in a classroom?"

I shook my head. "No way I'm going back to professor Brodan. He's the one that got you suspended."

Gajeel turned his head with a lifted eyebrow. "Is that so? Then we might have to pay a visit to this Brodan-guy."

I stood still abruptly, while Gajeel kept walking. "What? Like, right now?"

"Yeah, why not?" he said over his shoulder. "Where's his class right now?"

Releasing my invisibility mode, I placed my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes at Gajeel. "Are you serious right now?"

Gajeel held up his nose in the air, as if he was searching for the professor already. "Yeah, just to let him know you can't get rid of a Dragon Slayer that easily."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not because you're a dragon slayer, it's because you 'forced the children into acts of violence'. And he just doesn't like your face."

Gajeel grinned, showing off his sharp teeth. "All the better. I'm coming for you, old man!"

He basically through his travel sack with belongings on the ground, and started running towards the classroom I just came from. I took my face in my hands. What had I done?

Gajeel was really, really fast. I had no way of catching up to him, so when I got to the classroom he was already lifting professor Brodan up in the air with only two fingers.

"Listen up, pal" he said, and Brodan trembled just by hearing the guys voice. In the Myths & Sages – class most of the people had once had Gajeel as a teacher, and there were those who hadn't. Layton, of course, was rooting for our Magic Practice – teacher, just like most of my classmates from that class, but the ones that had only heard the rumours about the man in question had widened their eyes, holding on to their desks as if they were about to be blown through the walls by Gajeel's presence.

"….not leaving until these brats have graduated successfully. Got that?"

Brodan nodded very quickly as a response, and Gajeel put him back on his feet, patting the old man's robes like a servant. But Brodan didn't see him in that way at all. As soon as Gajeel turned his back towards him he fell on his knees, staring into the ground.

Before Gajeel left the room he turned around and pointed at some of the students. "I'll see you in class."

 **Kai**

It was dark, very dark. And hot, for some reason. The kind of hot you feel when you're entering a sauna. You're only supposed to stay in the sauna for about ten minutes, but I experienced the same kind of heat all day long.

I let out a cry, hoping someone would hear me from….well, wherever I may be. I could sometimes hear voices from far away, reassuring me that I was doing great. With what? I had no idea. There was no way I could identify the voices, and it made me angry. Why where they standing so far away? Why couldn't they come closer and get me out of here?

There were also other voices. Well, one other voice. A low, heavy voice. When it talked my whole head was shaking because of the vibrations. The voice seemed to touch my body at particular places, and when it touched I felt cold and calm. The voice was scary as hell but it brought me what I needed. The other nicer voices didn't do anything besides 'moral support', but I that didn't help me. The low, dark voice knew what I needed, but it still didn't feel right to listen to what it had to say.

"Give it to me…give me your body…" As you can understand, I didn't like the sound of that. It was the only thing I could make out of the rumbling the voice made, but as soon as it started forming words the nicer voices would interfere almost immediately, and pushed away the lower voice.

"Great….you're…there…" It echoed through my head, which was reassuring at times, and annoying at other. I once felt a hand on my shoulder, and I screamed. It scared the hell out of me, and it disappeared almost immediately. I looked around in the dark and screamed again.

"No! Come back, please!" I begged like a little child. I knew the hand belonged to the people with the nice voices, because the hand had a neutral feel to it, not the cold touch of the dark voices.

And I wanted it to hold me, even just for a minute. Tell me it was gonna be alright. That I would be out of this hell soon.

"Kai?"

The voices called out to me with this name. Was it mine?

"Kai! Can you hear me?"

I figured it was. Yes, that was my name, given to me by my grandparents. I remembered it.

" _Listen to me, Caleb. From now on, you'll have to live with a new name. We've arranged everything. You'll be going somewhere else, and you can never come back here, understood? They'll be looking for you everywhere, but not this place. You'll be safe. And remember: you're not Caleb anymore. You are Kai, an immigrant from another continent."_

That was what he said to me, and then introduced me to a captain of a ship that would take me to another land. The captain, a woman, never revealed her face to me. She never talked either. She only brought me food and clothes and told me to stay inside my room and be silent.

Upon arrival, she told me to hide in a barrel, and come out once the ship had left. She gave me a letter and told me to look for a dark skinned man in a suit. He would take care of me for the time being.

Somehow, I was found. Not by the people that chased me when I was still Caleb, but someone else.

One night, Headmaster Kubo knocked on the door of the house. He took me to his school, where I was supposed to be safe.

But now this happened. Not the cult people, not the Headmaster, but me myself got me in trouble.

"Kai! Answer me!"

"I am…" I stuttered, panting. The cold was wearing off a little, but my throat felt sore and I could barely speak.

"Oh, thank god" the voice said relieved. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a warm feeling spread through my upper body. I could breathe more easily.

"Who…" I managed to ask.

"It's Jake, your classmate" he said, and although I couldn't see him, I somehow knew what he looked like. I felt tears welling up in my eyes for some reason, but I didn't want to cry.

"Where…why is it so dark?" I asked with a thick throat. I heard some rumbling, but just from the sounds I couldn't make out what he was doing, but the hand stayed on my shoulder, which was reassuring. I wasn't alone.

"You're wearing a blindfold" he answered. "I'm not sure if we can remove it yet, but it won't be long."

"Why am I wearing a blindfold?" I asked. Talking seemed to get easier. I could hear Jake sighing, as if he found it difficult to answer me properly.

"It's because we're not sure if you'll be looking through those eyes…or the other guy."

I frowned. "Other guy? What are you talking about?"

Jake removed his hand from my shoulder, which made me very scared. Was he leaving me?

"Well, your body is yours, of course, but for some reason there is someone else that also resides within your body. And this person…well, he isn't like you. I've been trying to get him out, as in 'exorcising', and it's going great, but where not just there yet. It's a miracle I'm able to talk with you now."

"Wow…" was all I could say. I had so many questions, so many fears and scenarios in my head, starting with 'How?' How did this happen? Someone else is trying to take over my body, but how did it get in my head in the first place?

"I know it's a lot to take in" Jake continued, "but Gajeel and I will explain everything once you've recovered. And I'll be beside you at all times, don't worry."


	13. Chapter 13: Don't tell

**Howdy!**

 **Hope everyone who celebrated had a nice Halloween!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 13: Don't tell_

 **Rose**

After what happened during Myths & Sages 103 all of us were pretty convinced we'd be returning to Magic Practice 101. To be precise, the day after there hung a paper on the announcement board in the dining hall.

" _Professor Redfox will be returning as both teacher and examiner of Magic Practice 101, but will only be responsible for class B3C due to personal issues."_

"Personal issues?" Ibisan muttered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Caroline sighed, crossing her arms. "I bet they're just trying to hide the fact that they're just short on staff."

Greg elbowed his brother. "But who's 'they'?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "The Headmaster and the assistant, Kuchiha."

Floyd whistled, fist bumping his brother. "The hotty, yes."

I shook my head, eying Lily, who stood next to me. "So immature."

"Totally." Lily looked around for a sec, as if she was searching for someone. "Have you seen Tilly around? We're supposed to be heading to English in a couple minutes."

I frowned. "Now that you mention it…no I haven't. Probably overslept, as usual. I think she'll be alright."

Lily shrugged as we walked back to our table, taking away the remains of our breakfast. "Don't you think she's been acting strange lately? I've got the feeling like something's troubling her, but she won't tell."

While piling up some plates, I tried to think of a good answer without giving away too much. "Well, you know her. She likes to be on her own often. I wouldn't worry over it too much if I were you. She seems just fine to me."

After saying that, I avoided eye-contact with Lily for a little while. I could feel her the eyes behind her glasses piercing through my lies and I just kept pretending nothing was wrong. But I knew she knew something was going on with me as well. It was just a matter of time before she'd start to see the connection with Tilly it unconditionally had.

After bringing our plates to the kitchen and grabbing our bags we went on our way towards class. Magic Practice would be the first after lunch, which meant we had to endure for at least half a day.

Tilly slipped into the classroom just before Miss Khan closed the door. I smiled relieved and ignored Lily'sq questioning glares thrown at me. Miss Khan shook her head in disappointment and annoyance as Tilly hurried over to a seat in the back of the room. Almost unnoticeable, she lifted up her thumb at me, letting me know it went well. It was her turn this morning to make sure everything went well with Kai.

Last time I went to check I could see the exhaustion on Jake's face. He'd been studying day and night, trying to find out a way to free Kai from whatever that thing was that now tried to take possession of his body.

We all kinda panicked when Gajeel got suspended, but Jake took on the role of leader before we even started about giving up. I'd never seen Jake step up like that. He always seemed like a quiet person to me, an observer, someone who just took life as it was. He never stood out, and I realized I never actually knew him as a person.

Seeing him put his life on the line for a classmate and becoming the leader of the operation he himself played a crucial part in was something I couldn't imagine him doing in my wildest dreams. I had the upmost respect for him and I'm sure the others thought about it the same way I did.

English class was all a blur to me, and I can barely remember anything from Math class that day. In this school we had the regular subjects and the specialized subjects concerning things that had to do with magic. The last sort didn't exactly make them fun subjects if you had a shitty teacher like professor Brodan. The teacher should make the subject interesting and encourage his/her students to work and study hard for a greater sake, but he did none of that. Gajeel didn't particularly do either, but in some ways he did.

Finally, lunch had begun and I was just pumped to go to Magi Practice straight after. When we entered the dining hall, I realized I probably hadn't brought my notebook with me. I could, of course, use the one from English to write down in, but that would make everything so messy. I didn't like loose papers flying around in my bag nor my dorm.

"I'm just gonna go grab my notebook" I said to Lily after finishing my fruit salad. Lily didn't look at me, but stared into her own bole. It was obvious she was mad at me for hiding certain things from her, but she would later understand it was all for the better.

When there was no response, I hurried towards the girl's dorm, located not far from the hall. In this school, we didn't really lock the doors to the dorm halls, but each girl had her own room with a lock. I held my key in my fist as I walked down the hall, and squeezed it. There was someone behind me.

I could hear footsteps echoing over my own, which was saying something since I was one of the bigger girls around. The idea of glancing over my shoulder seemed suicide to me. The person following me was obviously trying to hide his/her presence for some reason. I would be OK with it if it were one of the boys pranking me like they always did, but with everything going on I couldn't help but be anxious about it.

I reached the dorm door, and placed my hand on the doorknob. Turning it made a clicking sound echo through the empty corridor, which made the situation even more like one of those horror movies. I pulled the door towards me in order to open it, but it was almost immediately pushed back by a hand that seemed to appear out of the blue.

I turned my head and stared in the two greenish eyes of Martin. Swallowing a cry of relief down my throat, I smiled.

"Oh, Martin, hey. What's up?"

Martin removed his hand from the door, and instead leaned against it with his shoulder, as if he was making sure I wouldn't be able to open it any time soon. "You tell me?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He snorted unamused. "Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Suddenly, an image of Jake and Martin entering an arcade in town flashed before my eyes. Martin was close friends with Jake. How could I forget that?

"I'm really sorry, but…I'm not one of those geeky gamers that speaks your idiotic language" I sneered. It seemed better for the both of us to keep up the dumb act. Of course he was worried about the disappearance of his friend, especially since Jake hadn't been in his dorm since Gajeel had first approached him about Kai's situation. I totally got it, but I had sworn on my life not to tell anyone about the situation. The only one permitted to involve more people in the operation was the one leading it, which was Gajeel, and maybe Jake.

For so far as I could see Jake hadn't done that to anyone yet.

"Where is he?" Martin asked, almost whispering. I rolled my eyes, pretending not to care.

"Who is 'he' supposed to be?"

Martin took a step towards me, but I didn't lift a finger, even though my heart was bumping in my throat. "Quit fooling around. I know you're involved in it, and Jake is too. So just tell me what the hell is going on or else-"

"Or else what?" I tried to keep up the stupid blondie-act for as long as I could, but to be honest: Martin was really freaking me out. I didn't exactly remember what kind of magic he uses, but from what I'd heard he was involved in the massive explosions in the forest, just before the gym collapsed due to Samdy and Sasha's battle practice. "You're gonna attack me or something? Give me a break, I don't know anything."

"STOP LYING!" he suddenly screamed. I dashed back, afraid he'd jump on top of me. I was already concentrating on my breathing, gathering magic power. I didn't know what I would do if he'd actually attack me but it was the only thing keeping me from telling him the truth.

Because I really wanted to just give in. I felt sorry for Martin.

The way he looked now just ached my heart. He was pale, dark circles around his eyes, as if he spent nights trying to figure out what's happening. His shoulders hung and his legs trembled, as if he could barely stand.

He knew something was boiling under the surface, just like Lily.

Martin took a step back, placing his feet shoulder width apart, holding his hands in front of him. I suddenly felt really cold as I realized he was planning to fight me. I could already see the magic bomb forming in his palms.

"What is going on here?" a voice suddenly interrupted.

The both of us jacked our heads in the direction of the dining hall. There, on the doorstep, stood Jake.

"W-ha…?" Martin stumbled. Jake frowned, looking at the two of us standing against one another, ready for battle.

Martin soon dropped his pose, and let a laughter as he turned towards his friend. "Jake, where've you been?"

Jake eyed me, asking for an explanation, but all I could do in return was shrug my shoulders. It seemed best for him to handle the situation now.

Martin slipped with his feet over the ground, trying to make his way over to Jake. "Hey man, talk to me."

Jake smiled, and lifted his arm. His palm aimed at Martin's nose. I felt a swift push in the air, and a second later Martin collapsed on the ground, snoring. Jake scratched the back of his neck and sighed.

"Help me drag him to the dorm. I'll talk to Gajeel first before taking actions myself."

I nodded quickly. Jake already kneeled down next to his unconscious friend, but I felt like I had to say something. "Hey, Jake?"

He looked up, and I felt my cheeks burn up. "What is it?"

"Thank you. For stepping up like that."

He turned back to Martin, putting his arm around his neck. "No problem. Can you grab his feet?"


	14. Chapter 14: Skipping lunch

**Helloooo**

 **Next chappie, and on time. Hope you're all still enjoying the story so far. Can't really tell, but I'll keep uploading anyway :P**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 14: Skipping lunch_

 **Greg**

I slammed the door behind me shut, and I swear I could hear the Headmaster grumble something after us.

"I can't believe he wanted to scold us during lunch!" Floyd glanced at his watch. "Just great. Fifteen minutes till Gajeel's class. There's no way we can eat a balanced meal in such a short amount of time."

"I've always wanted nothing for lunch" I grunted. We weren't planning on missing anything of Gajeel's class now that he'd come back from his suspension, not even a minute. We were all (maybe my brother and I a little more) bored out of our minds. Nothing exciting ever happened. Gajeel comes back and BOOM! Teacher fight and rumours go around the school.

"We are kind of elite now" I said to my brother, who was walking faster than I was. He glanced over his shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "Well, we're in the only class Gajeel is allowed to teach. We're the freaking bosses."

Floyd chuckled. "Hell yeah, man. And we'll nail his class for sure. No more circus and pickpocketing, ever!"

We went around a corridor, to the long hall where at the end the door to the boy's dorm was. We were actually planning on skipping lunch as a whole, but we still had to grab our stuff.

"Sucks for Sam, though" Floy says as we near the door. "They're keeping him and Sasha in bed for the time being."

"It's what he gets for screwing up" I replied. We looked at each other, then both laughed. Destroying the gym seemed like a petty crime next to the chaos we caused in the town. We almost made the church building collapse by ringing the bells as battle practice. Both bells swung too hard and got launched out of the tower. They came down on the town square and we were really lucky no one got hurt. We fled before the police arrived, but the Headmaster somehow found out it was us. He let us get away with a warning, but from now on we had to be 'more careful around normal people'. Gee, thanks.

We weren't the only ones who caused havoc. We heard Martin basically set the forest on fire, but was able to put it out before it came too close to the school. And Lily made the ground accidently explode, creating a ravine somewhere close to the highway. How? No idea.

We entered the dorm still laughing a bit, when someone suddenly jumped onto the doorstep. Floyd dashed back, almost throwing me off my feet.

"What the…?" I grumbled. I heard my brother gasp, and knew something was wrong. Floyd was barely ever amazed by something.

"Kai?"

I looked over my brother's shoulder to the person standing in the doorway. He looked like shit, but it was our classmate who came down with an unknown illness a week back. We hadn't seen him around the dorm lately.

Kai looked as pale as a sheet, his eyes had dark circles around them and he was sweating like he'd just ran a marathon. He held up his hand, catching his breath. I eyed my brother, who shrugged. We just waited for him to speak.

"You need to…get out of here" he wheezed. He pointed at the dorm hall behind him. "Something's…there..."

"Dude, you need to get back into bed" I said, thinking he was delirious. I figured it was his fever causing him to see things that weren't really there.

Kai shook his head. "No, you don't understand. You have to get away from here, before it notices you."

"Who? Senpai?" Floyd chuckled. I burst out laughing, but Kai wasn't amused. In fact, his eyes widened, as if he'd just seen a really bad movie. He glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh, crap!" he spat. I frowned, at squinted my eyes in the direction Kai was looking. The dorm hall was a small corridor with doors on the right and the left leading to shared bedrooms of the students. At the end there was a door leading to the bathroom and shower area.

At that moment we were standing there, we could see smoke rising from underneath that door. Not like something was on fire, but dark smoke, pitch black.

"The hell is that?" I said. For some reason, the smoke intensified, and when it heard me my voice it seemed to turn our way.

"Shut up!" Kai hissed, pushing us back. The smoke became greater and greater, and almost seemed to take on a human-like form.

"Kai, what's going on?" Floyd asked, as we stepped back into the hall. Kai turned towards the smoke, which really looked like the shadow of a man now.

"You need to leave, now!" Kai said with a serious voice, but we weren't convinced.

"Just tell us what's happening!" I said, and the smoke reacted once again to the sound of my voice. Instinctively I took a step back. The smoke figure made moved in a way it looked like he took a step towards us. Kai cursed.

"Look, see if you can find either Gajeel or Jake, and get them here. They'll know what to do."

"Jake? Why him?" my brother asked. The shadow stepped forward again, this time it was faster. With every step I felt more uneasy.

"No time to explain!" Kai said over his shoulder. The shadow started running. "Just go already!"

The shadow suddenly jumped. It flew through the air towards us. Like he wasn't even there, it leaped over Kai's head and made its way to us.

Last thing I heard was a grunt, next I know the thing is on top of me. I screamed, and all was black.

 **Floyd**

"Holy shit!" I managed to say when I ducked. My brother was too late, and the dark figure fell on top of him. I stepped back, and I heard him scream of horrible pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

It echoed through both my head and the corridor. Kai took his head in his hands and cursed, staring at the scene.

"Where the hell is Jake?!" he shouted, more to himself than to me. I stared at the shadow, and before I knew what I was doing I jumped onto it.

It had materialized, so I was able to get hold of the humanlike figure. But the moment I touched it, my hands burned in pain, as if I'd just held them in flames. My brother screamed again, and the shadow grunted.

"Oh shit, oh shit!" I hissed through my teeth. "What do we do?"

Kai stared blankly at the figure, and he looked like he was about to pass out. And I couldn't have that. If he did I would lose my brother.

He screamed again, and it felt as if it touched every inch of my skin. I closed my eyes, feeling tears burning. In frustration I squeezed my hands into fists, and could feel blood dripping through my fingers. I had to do something, I couldn't just stand here. If I touched it, I'd burn my hands. If I did nothing, my brother would burn.

I took a deep breath, and went into concentration mode, building up my magic.

"What are you doing?" I heard Kai say, but I didn't feel like answering. I had to save my brother. "You can't fight it!"

I felt magic burning in my chest. I opened my eyes. "I'm not gonna fight it. I'll destroy it."

Holding my bleeding hands in front of me, I aimed for the figure. "Flying ropes!"

Invisible strings wrapped themselves around the figure. It wouldn't hold for long, but I only needed it to get away from Greg.

The shadow screamed and tried to resist. I folded my hands, and with that tightening the ropes. Sweat dripped down my forehead as made the restrained figure float in the air, pulling him off my brother's body, which was unconscious. He'd stopped screaming.

The shadow screamed, a high eerie scream. I tightened the rope even more, and the dark figure crawled around epileptically. Good.

Holding him one foot above the ground I commanded my flying ropes to move him farther away, till he was a few feet away from us as well. At the same time, I stepped towards my unconscious brother, standing in front of him in the hopes of shielding him of further assaults from the shadow.

I bit my lip as I felt my arms were starting to sour. I couldn't hold on for much longer, and I wouldn't have enough magic to fight the figure when it was freed.

"You shithead" I grunted to the shadow. It screamed again. The scream turned into a low grunt, and with that, it slowly turned into smoke.

"Crap" I whispered, thinking it would escape the ropes like this. But the smoke turned into thin air, and completely disappeared. I released my spell, and looked around anxiously. Where was it?

As I searched around, my sight got blurry, and I suddenly felt exhausted. I blinked. I couldn't collapse, not with that thing around.

My legs trembled, as if it couldn't carry me anymore. I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. Where was he?

At the end of the corridor a door opened. One of the teacher's offices. Her mouth opened and she said something, but I couldn't hear it. Someone seemed to have put cloths in my ears or something.

I looked over my shoulder to my brother. His eyes were closed, and his entire body and face were covered in blood.

With the little strength I had left I crawled towards him, grabbing his shoulders. "Greg. Hey, man. Wake up, he's gone."

I shook his unconscious body, but he wouldn't respond. From the corner of my eye I saw Kai walking towards the teacher and giving her a brief explanation of what had occurred. Of course he told a lie. No one would believe us.

"Greg….GREG!" I couldn't hear my own voice, but according to Kai I was screaming. I felt panic rising from my stomach and wanted to throw up, but I hadn't had lunch so there wasn't anything to vomit. We'd skipped lunch for class.


	15. Chapter 15: Attack

**Hello,**

 **I'm feeling really down this week due to what happened last Friday. I hope the people who've lost people important to them can somehow find the strength to deal with their loss. I can't imagine what it must feel like...**

 **Still, and I feel really silly for doing this now but I also feel like I have to, I'd like to thank the one's for reviewing last chapter. It makes me really happy :)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail**

 **I hope you can enjoy this chapter.**

 _Chapter 15: Attack_

 **Ary**

I felt a real shock when I entered the classroom. Considering every single one of my classmates was rather worried about Gajeel's whereabouts I figured they would all be present at the first lesson after his return. But there were only six people, including me; Layton, Lilly, Ibisan, Caroline and Tilly.

I knew Kai had been sick for a while, and Jake as well. Samdy and Sasha were, of course, still in the hospital wing. I visited them during lunch.

Martin didn't seem to be doing well lately, so he might've gotten sick. Rose, on the other hand, seemed fine this morning. Same for the twins, Greg and Floyd. I had heard they were called to the principal's office, but the headmaster wouldn't keep them away from their education for so long. Especially them, since they had the tendency to skip several classes a day.

Gajeel didn't seem to be bothered by the lack of students in his class. Or he his counting skills were as bad as his spelling.

"Listen up, punks" he grumbled, even though no one was speaking. "I just gotta say; y'all did a pretty terrible job at practising. And I'm proud."

Although Ibisan sat alone, he laughed behind his hand. Gajeel ignored him.

"The school's gotten many reports and bills from several people, including the mayor of the town. And just think about what the gym's gonna cost us…oh well, not our problem. You got a good look at what y'all are capable of. It's normal to damage stuff when you're not a pro yet. Magic's basically all about making and fixin' mistakes. You're on the right path." He crossed his big arms, and the tattoo on his upper arm seemed to enlarge a little. "I had a good chat with that Kubo guy over at his office, and we came to an agreement. None of you will be suspended."

Ibisan was the only one to show his relief at the matter. The rest still seemed tensed for some reason.

"But I can't go on with the way I train you kids around here" Gajeel continued, and Ibisan's hurray's stopped abruptly. I sighed sorrowful. This was what I was expecting to hear.

Right when everyone started to accept their own powers and develop their own magic, we were halted. Like always. Every time one of us came close to a milestone in our lives, we were pulled back.

"Are you serious?" Tilly almost shouted from the back of the classroom. I turned around in my chair. Every single person seemed so depressed. As if they had just gotten their faces pushed into a puddle of mud. As if someone told them what pieces of crap they were. I saw Lily even blink away a tear.

"You can't be" Ibisan grumbled, throwing his hands in the air. Caroline looked at her hands, her brown eyes looking gloomy, shaking her head slowly. Layton looked at the teacher with his eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to peel off a layer to reveal the truth. He and I thought alike.

There was no way Gajeel would stop teaching us.

The man in question cracked a smile full of sharp teeth and glimmering red eyes. "That's why we're not training _here_ any longer. Next week, we'll be going on boot camp to the island of Lux, a wizard's vacation resort."

I widened my eyes. "A wizard's island?"

From the corner of my eye I could see all the heads of my few classmates turn towards me, since I never really spoke during class. At least, not without raising my hand. But I just couldn't help it.

After my discovery and my investigation of the kingdom called 'Fiore', all I wished for was to know more. I felt like a little kid, but I really wanted to go to this magical kingdom. Gajeel was born and raised there and he became a very powerful wizard, according to himself. I wanted to see for myself how powerful the people were in that strange kingdom.

But most of all; I wanted to know if I belonged there. And for my classmates as well.

It seemed so obvious to me, and I was sure there were more students who had realized it; we didn't belong here. We were somehow born in the wrong part of the world.

The headmaster did a great job putting all of us together in one group. We were the only ones that actually possessed powerful magic. The other students from our year could only do little magic, which looked more like clever pickpocketing than defence or offence. We were the ugly ducks. Freaks among the freaks. And Gajeel must've realized it too.

He nodded. "Yup. We'll leave on Monday. Each of you are allowed to bring one bag with you, since there isn't much room on the boat."

I blinked. I still couldn't believe it. "Is it… part of Fiore?"

Gajeel's face suddenly turned blank, as if I'd asked the wrong question. "Of course, you dumbass. Where else?"

"What's Fiore?" Lilly asked, raising her hand for once. Gajeel narrowed his eyes at me before turning to the question.

"It's where I'm from" he simply said. "Make sure y'all pass the info on to the rest. I still have to-"

He stopped midsentence, and jerked his head towards the door, raising his piercing-like eyebrows. He heard something we didn't.

"Kids, don't piss your pants" he said softly, stepping towards the door. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary visible, but Gajeel's behaviour really made all of us uneasy. "Don't resist it."

I opened my mouth to ask what he was talking about, but before I could find the words Caroline collapsed on the ground.

Her eyes were closed, seemingly unconscious. Ibisan hurried out of his chair, but Gajeel held up his hand.

"Leave her be. Don't move around too much."

Ibisan looked from the blonde to his teacher and back, then decided to sink bank in his seat.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Gajeel, who placed his index finger on his lips, gesturing to stay silent.

From under the door black smoke rose up, and then I lost consciousness as well.

 **Lily**

I looked over my shoulder to Tilly, who held her head in her hands, as if she was fighting consciousness as well. I didn't feel anything yet, but I was certain it would happen to me sooner or later.

Two rows in front of me Layton fell with his face flat on his desk. If even a big guy like him fainted, I'd surely follow up.

The black smoke rising from under the door drifted around Gajeel's legs, but he didn't move a muscle. He leaned with his shoulder against the wood, as if stopping the one behind it from entering.

I suddenly saw Rose's face from this morning, and the feeling that she was keeping something from me. Did this have to with that as well? Was she involved with whatever that black thing was?

Gajeel seemed to know what was coming and what he had to do, so this thing had been around for some time.

I didn't need to turn around to know that Tilly had lost as well. I could hear her head hit the ground hard. Ibisan and I were the only ones remaining conscious.

The black smoke was dancing around our desks and feet. I got goosebumps all over my body when the soft substance touched my skin.

I desperately tried to get Ibisan's attention, hoping for some moral support somehow. But he stared to the chalk board, in total concentration, as if he was gathering his magic, even though Gajeel told us not to resist. Here I was, trying not to panic, while this idiot prepared for battle.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door, which made me jump up in my seat. I almost screamed, but managed to swallow it down.

"Gajeel!" a voice sounded from the outside. I frowned. Was that…?

"Get that thing away from here!" Gajeel answered, almost shouting. But there was no hint of fear anywhere. It just seemed like he was sealing some kind of business deal, or giving directions to a team of builders.

"Roger" the voice answered. Ten seconds later, the smoke started clearing. In fact, it seemed to be sucked away through the same opening it entered the classroom in the first place. I couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Gajeel stepped away from the door, waiting for the smoke to have completely disappeared. When he stepped back, I could see him tremble on his feet a little. He placed one hand on his desk to keep himself from falling down.

He told us not to resist, while it looked like he was the one doing that the most.

The door swung open, and there were two guys standing in the step; Kai and Jake.

"Did you get rid of it?" Gajeel said, gasping in between. Jake nodded, and held up a glass bottle. In it was a black substance, which sometimes lit up for some reason, as if there were Christmas lights put in there with it.

"Sealed away" he added. Then he looked around, and his eyes widened. "Oh, man. Are they OK?"

Gajeel straightened his back, as if he had regained his strength. "They'll be fine. Tell me what happened."

I frowned as deep as I could. My head felt like someone had put a million cushions in there and slammed on it with a hammer. There was so much I didn't understand.

First up; Rose was hiding something. She wasn't in Magic Practice today. She didn't tell me anything about getting sick or not feeling good. She just disappeared into thin air.

Next; the twins were gone. No one had seen them after the gathering at the announcement's board, where they seemed very excited about today's class. But they never showed up.

Third; Gajeel still got to teach us, even though we caused a lot of trouble because of his assignments. He wasn't fired, but instead given the opportunity to go on a boot camp with us to a wizard island.

Fourth: we got attacked by black smoke which made several people pass out.

Fifth: Gajeel somehow knew what to do and advised us not to panic or something.

Sixth: Jake and Kai knew how to deal with the smoke and saved us. Jake 'sealed' it away in a glass bottle.

Lastly: Gajeel works with them in some kind of conspiracy.

I shook my head after having sorted all these facts I didn't know and bit my lip. This was just too much. Rose was involved in all of this, and she didn't tell me anything.

I stood up from my desk, slamming my fist into the wood. Gajeel and the two boys turned their heads towards me, surprised, as if they'd forgotten I was still there.

"Cut it out!" I screamed, which really came from deep within. I was so done with all the secrecy. "Cut it out with your secrets! Please, just tell us. Tell us everything."

Jake eyed Gajeel, who crossed his arms, shrugging. "Very well. Let's get the others here, and we'll explain."


	16. Chapter 16: Truths and Promises - Part 1

**Oi!**

 **I might've had a little too much fun writing this, and I'm sorry for that. I hope you can enjoy my silliness somehow.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 16: Truths and promises - Part 1_

 **Layton**

The atmosphere in the hospital was the most awkward thing I'd ever experienced. We were all gathered here, our whole class. The nurse had frowned, but after some persuading from Gajeel's side she allowed us to see Samdy and Sasha.

Kai and Floyd were already there. Seeing the two of them there raised so many questions and I had already opened my mouth, but Kai shook his head.

The last to arrive were Jake, Rose and Martin. Martin looked kinda pale for some reason, and evaded everyone's eyes, as if he felt ashamed.

We gathered around Sasha and Samdy. Some sat down at the other beds around, or just stood with their arms crossed, like me. I knew most of the things Gajeel was going to say, but I'd totally missed out on the happenings of this day.

"Well, now that we're all cuddled up here" Gajeel started off, standing in front of the group like a performer. Literally everyone looked tense. "I'll start off by saying that we have a problem. A big problem, which split up in several smaller problems. And we need to have them all fixed by tomorrow morning. Some of you" and with this he eyed the people who were in class an hour ago "have seen a 'little problem' just now. Kai, take it away."

Kai, who stood next to Samdy's bed, widened his eyes and nervously cleared his throat. I suddenly realized I actually didn't know much about him. Yeah, he was Kai, a dude I hung out with from time to time, a roommate of mine, who started acting suspiciously. If I hadn't found him in the woods that day…

"Uhm, well, I'll just begin with telling you my real name. My birth name is Caleb, given to me by my mother. I was born in a different continent, and I don't remember much of my time there since I was very little when I left. I only vaguely remember my grandfather, who gave me the name I still use today. He might've done something to my memories as well, but…well, the thing is; the first years of my life I grew up being part of a cult that worshipped some demon-god or something. The priest performed some weird ritual on me, and…." He hesitated, and looked around the group. Everyone waited patiently. No one didn't care. I was absolutely shocked by what he was telling. I would've never thought this was hiding behind that stupid face of his. "The black smoke you saw earlier was once sealed inside me. I don't know why and how they did it, and I have absolutely no idea how it got out. After we started learning meditation, I would get visions of the demon's power, and one day it was about to take over my body…" He swallowed, and turned his head towards me. "Layton and Gajeel found me just in time. After that...I don't remember much. But when I woke up, I knew something was wrong and I went looking-"

"That's enough, thank you" Gajeel interrupted him calmly. "We need to keep it chronologically, otherwise the kids can't keep up. Yes, I knocked Kai out and had Layton help me drag him away from there. We put him in some storage room I found on the second floor." Gajeel then turned to Jake, who nodded. Over time, these two seemed to be a very good team. When Gajeel wasn't around, Jake would take over as leader. And he was quite good at it too.

"After a few classes" Jake started, "Gajeel discovered I possessed to create anti-magic shields and asked me to create an anti-demon kind as well. It took longer than expected, but slowly I was able to squeeze the demon from Kai's body, drop by drop, until he was able to regain consciousness. Me, Tilly, Rose and Layton would each watch over him for a couple hours, keep him conscious for as much as possible. I don't know what happened, but somehow the demon managed to get out on its own and out of his own will. As soon as I heard what happened I went out and tried to find it. But….well, I guess I'll leave that for you, Floyd."

This was the part I'd missed. I then noticed Floyd was without his brother. This never happened. When one was sick, the other was too. When one broke a leg, the other suddenly tripped as well. Floyd really looked like a mess. His hands were wrapped in bandages, as if he'd an accident.

"Yeah, uhm….me and Greg were heading towards the dorm, and Kai was suddenly there. Then there was this black smoke….and it went straight for Greg. That thing jumped on top of him like a beast, and…" He took a deep breath. This was nothing like him. Where were the stupid jokes? The annoying pranks? The bad puns? "I decided I needed to get that thing away from Greg. I managed to form an invisible rope and pull it away, but then it disappeared in mid-air. It just split up for some reason."

"Where's Greg now?" Lily asked, her eyes widened. Floyd shrugged.

"The school nurse drove him to the hospital in the town, since the wounds were too big to be treated here."

"Oh my god" Caroline gasped. A silence came down over the group. Gajeel avoided everyone's eyes looking at him. Tears rolled down and there was a sob here and there, but I couldn't cry. No way.

I was mad. Furious. Frustrated.

"Stop sobbing" I heard myself say. All heads turned. "That thing had just touched one of us, and it would get it back a thousand times worse."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Lily cried out. "We can't do anything. We're too weak."

I shook my head. "Doesn't matter, because so is that thing. From what I've understood, the smoke-demon-thing split up into several parts, which means its power will have as well. We might be evenly matched."

Ary grunted, the thing she does when, in her opinion, someone says something stupid. "It still doesn't change a thing. When we got attacked by that black smoke, you and I were the first ones to collapse and submit to it. We're still too weak."

I grinded my teeth. "But there must be something we can do!"

"There is" Gajeel replied, moving his hand in the pocket of his pants. In his palm lay a round, marble-like object.

 **Jake**

"You're gonna call _them?_ " I asked in disbelief. I ignored the confused looks thrown at me when I said call. I was probably the only one who knew that the thing in Gajeel's hand was a communication lacrima. Gajeel sighed.

"I ain't got much choice. There's just one person I have to get a hold of. She might be able to give us some more information about what we're dealing with. Besides, since most of us-"

"Hello?" Gajeel hadn't finished his sentence yet or a high pitched voice sounded from the lacrima. Gajeel raised both eyebrows and looked genuinely shocked. "Is this thing on?"

I heard mixed reactions around me about the lacrima, and some even moved back a little. Tilly didn't seem that intimidated, as she'd probably seen it before.

"What's that?" Layton asked me.

"See it as a mobile version of Skype" I answered. Gajeel moved the lacrima around in both his hands, as if figuring out how to turn it off.

"Who's this?" he grunted, looking into the marble. He seemed to know the person who was calling, because his face got a disgusted expression. "The cat?!"

"Aye, sir!" it sounded from the other side. Gajeel face palmed himself like I'd never seen before or would ever see him do.

"Fantastic" he grunted. "Is Levy around?"

"I won't tell" the voice, who Gajeel referred to as 'the cat', replied teasingly. "First you have to tell me who you are."

"It's Gajeel, you idiot!" he shouted at the marble. My classmates all looked at each other. This was truly a rare sight, a man shouting at a marble.

"EEEEEEEEEEH?" 'the cat' screamed from the other side. "Phantom Lord is back! Natsu! Natsuuuu!"

Gajeel squeezed angrily in the marble. "I joined Fairy Tail weeks ago, you maggot! Is the master around, then?"

"What's going on here, Happy?" another voice suddenly sounded. It sounded like a guy a few years older than us. And apparently 'the cat' was called 'Happy'.

"Not this guy" Gajeel grunted, squeezing his eyes. I could see some movement in the lacrima. There was something blue moving about and then there was pink.

"G-Gajeel!" the guy said. "Why the hell did steal Lucy's job?! And why are you even calling?!"

"I didn't, dickhead!" Gajeel shouted back. "That blue idiot did! Where's the master? I need to speak with him."

"Oh, I thought you wanted to talk to Levy…." the first voices sounded, followed by something which was probably meant as kissing noises. We couldn't help but giggle a little, even in this serious situation. To my surprise I could see a blush forming on Gajeel's cheeks.

"Shut up, or I'll make you shut up!"

"Are you threatening my friend?!" the guy replied. Gajeel snored.

"And what if I am? Wanna have a go, Salamander?"

"Get ready to eat dust!" the other responded.

"What's going on here?" a girly voice sounded from farther away, as if she was at the other side of the room or something. "Natsu, you can't set that lacrima on fire, believe me."

By hearing the girl's voice, Gajeel suddenly got really silent. His face had a serious expression on it, as if the presence of this girl was very hard on him. From where I stood I could see something yellow-like shifting in front of the lacrima.

"Oh!" the girl said surprised. "It's you. How's the teaching job going?"

Gajeel blinked for a second, as if he was taken aback by the question. "Uh, alright, I guess. Actually ran into some trouble here. Is Levy around? I need her to look into something for me. You two are buddies, right?"

"Lucy!" the guy, who's probably this 'Natsu', shouted. "Don't get friendly with that iron scum!"

"Shut it, Natsu! Don't be childish!" the girl responded, before answering. "Levy's on a job with Jet and Droy at the moment, but I can do some research if you want."

"Luuuucyyyy!" Natsu's voice sounded. I narrowed my eyes. I had absolutely no clue how the relation worked between these people. And Happy was a cat….?

"Are you sure?" Gajeel asked, ignoring Natsu, whom he had called 'Salamander'…?

"Lucy is really insane, isn't she?" said Happy. "But then again; I'm crazy about fish."

I could hear Lucy sigh. "Yes, I'm sure. You're part of the guild now. We help each other out every now and then."

Something pink took over the lacrima, ignoring Lucy's objections.

"Listen up, pal" Natsu's voice sounded. This time, it was low and threatening, although Gajeel didn't seem scared at all. "You may be part of this guild now, but if I see you lay even a finger on any of them you'll regret it with your life."

All eyes of the group widened. I too felt uncomfortable hearing my teacher and leader be threatened like this. All my classmates, me included, stared at Gajeel, waiting for how he would respond.

To all our surprises, Gajeel grinned. The brightest grin, showing off his sharp teeth. There was also this crazy glimmering in his eyes, as if he got excited over something.

"Are you scared, Salamander?" he grumbled. "Luckily, I'm not as big as an idiot as you are. I'm under direct surveillance of Makarov. I wouldn't dare to go all out on the guild. But if you miss me that much, we'll sort things out when I get back."

Natsu chuckled. "I'll look forward to kicking your ass."


	17. Chapter 17: Truths and Promises - Part 2

**Helloooo!**

 **Wednesday again. I'm kinda proud of myself for being able to keep uploading weekly. I'm even thinking about doing some specials...wanna know when? Follow me on Twitter LaurenRoover1.**

 **Also; if you have any ideas for a fic, as in a request: send me a message! (on here or on there, whichever you prefer) I've been wanting to do some fics for AOT, Naruto, TVD, TO and even HP...hit me up if you got something! :)**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy ;)**

 _Chapter 17: Truths and Promises – Part 2_

 **Martin**

After Gajeel had somehow 'turned off' the huge marble in his hand a long and awkward silence followed. None of us knew what to say, and I don't think I was the only who'd only gotten more confused. I had the feeling I only knew about ten percent of what was really going on.

Jake's motives were clear, so were Layton's and Kai's. Greg and Floyd were innocent, which might've costed Greg's life, as we weren't sure what his state was at the moment.

"That idiot" Gajeel grumbled, breaking the silence like a glass falling on the ground. He glared suspiciously at the marble, as if he expected it to 'call' again. But it stayed silent at the other side.

"Well, those weren't very helpful" he said, turning back to the group, who still pretended to have seen nothing, unable to deal with the weird situation. "We'll have to deal with this ourselves for the moment. Jake, tell us what you know."

Jake cleared his throat. "Oh, er, well…for as far as I know, the demon in smoke form managed to split itself into several other smoke-like forms and is now scattered across the entire building. It might've been an accident, or done intentionally. Either way; it takes time for it to regroup. I don't know how long."

"We can leave that for blondie to find out" Gajeel said.

I stared at Jake, my face caught in a frown. The only thing I could think was; how? How does he know all that? Since when did he become best buddies with our teacher?

Jacob. A guy I used to hang out with. One of my best gaming buddies. We were the two losers in our class and we almost instinctively stuck together. If we were both in our forties and single we'd still have our bromance.

But at that moment, in the Hospital Wing, I wasn't so sure anymore. Just looking at him, I knew he'd changed forever. He'd become a leader, someone who deserved respect, someone who dared to do anything for a greater cost.

He'd become something I couldn't ever be.

It made me very angry, and frustrated, and very jealous, but I guess that's normal. I kept reminding myself I should be happy for him, as a friend.

Jake had gone through some tough times before coming here, and even after. He never really stood out, barely ever spoke. I bet most of the girls in our class didn't even know he existed, yet the times he spoke, there in the Hospital Wing, they were all in awe. They never realized how much of a badass he could be.

Like I said; I was jealous. I wanted celebrate this change with him, be proud, pat him on the shoulder, stand beside him.

But you sometimes just can't control how you feel.

"What I remember about demons" Gajeel said, interrupting my thoughts. I noticed I'd been staring at Jake the whole time, and he was giving me looks of questioning and concern. I didn't respond, and instead just looked away. "is that in my country they only take about a few seconds to reform. Let's say seven or something. On this stupid piece of land," he continued, basically spitting the words on the ground, "magic travels at a speed of 3 miles per hour. I have no frickin' idea how much it is in Fiore, though…." He scratched the back of his neck.

Suddenly, someone in the group raised her hand. It was Ary, whose face was even paler than before. Her eyes were surrounded by dark circles and she looked like she could pass out any minute, yet the strong and determined movement of her arm proved me wrong.

"180 miles per hour" she said before Gajeel had even seen her. There was some confusion in the group.

"How do you know that?" Lily asked. Ary shrugged, but before she could answer Ibisan's snorting sounded.

"Dude, she knows everything!"

Ary turned around from her side of the bed, narrowing her eyes at the blonde idiot. "It's called a book. You should try it sometime."

I looked back at Gajeel while the whole group was screaming out 'oooh's' and 'get rekt' and all that sort of things. I had to try my best not to burst out laughing as I saw what Gajeel was doing.

He held both his hands up, staring at them with the concentration of a child in elementary school, trying to figure out which figure fits in what hole in the box. He whispered numbers and held up and pulled down fingers one after another, grunted and cursed and then started over.

"We have about seven hours," Ary said, apparently having seen his struggle. I chuckled, as he desperately tried to get a grip of his calm and rough appearance, while the sweat of that math problem was still running down his face.

"Right, I knew that" he mumbled. "Hear that, brats? We got seven hours till that thing reanimates, we have about 5 hours and thirty minutes left, which means this is gonna be an overnighter."

"What exactly are we gonna do?" Lily asked, not bothering to raise her hand. I couldn't blame her.

Gajeel grinned that kind of creepy grin that reminds you of some kind of reptile with a cat's teeth…I might be overthinking this a little.

"I got a plan."

 **Samdy**

Well, this was going to be great. I leaned back in my pillow, having swift eye contact with Sasha on my way down. She shrugged, basically saying 'I have no clue'.

Gajeel didn't seem to be bothered by the lack of enthusiasm at all. No one really wanted to know what he had in mind. We were all just confused, scared. And I'd only been awake for about an hour before they came running in with three people unconscious and a load of weird stories.

From what I understood, this happened; Kai had a demon sealed inside him when he was a kid, and because of Gajeel's teaching it managed to take over his body. Layton was there when it happened and Gajeel helped him bring Kai back to school, where they locked him away. Jake turned out to have a power to shield himself and others from demons and used that power to free Kai, or Caleb, or whatever his name is. But the demon had its own will and was now running wild throughout the school. And Gajeel wanted us to go catch them. At least, that what I thought at the time.

He held up something in the air, grinning. It was an ancient looking glass bottle, with a black substance moving around. Yes, moving around. Like a river stream or something. A black, living, dangerous stream.

"This bottle contains cleansed sugar, and of course one piece of the bastard. We're gonna use these things to catch the rest."

"But we don't know how many particles there are" Jake commented. Gajeel nodded in agreement. These two seemed to have formed a team somehow, which surprised me. Jake never said anything in class and barely left his dorm during spare time.

"That's why we'll have to split into different teams. So…" he looked around the group, as if he was quickly calculating his chances. Which didn't work as well as it sounds. "Samdy and Sasha, get your asses outta bed. You're team one."

"Glad you asked" I answered, pushing off the blankets. I'd been fed up with doing nothing and having to converse with Sasha about life and everything. Now we had something to do, finally.

"Rose and Martin, team two."

Martin's eyes widened so unnaturally fast it almost seemed like they'd pop out of his head. I knew he was one of those guys who just didn't know how to talk to girls and that he must've felt nervous being around one for five hours. It was that or something unpleasant had occurred between the two of them.

"Layton and Ibisan, team three." A powerhouse team. Putting the two strongest guys together didn't seem like a smart move, but he must've had his reasons.

When I thought that, I suddenly realized how much my opinion about Gajeel had changed over the weeks. I used to think of him as another idiot, but one who pitied us. But the further his lessons progressed, the more I started to…well, respect him, I guess. And that's why I didn't oblige about his decisions that day.

"Lily and Tilly, team five."

"Four, you mean" Tilly said with a smile. Gajeel mumbled that he didn't care, and moved on. "Floyd and Kai, team five."

Kai nodded, but Floyd seemed to have his thoughts with his brother, which I completely understood.

"Jake, I want you to make more of these bottles" Gajeel continued, throwing the bottle in Jake's direction. He was barely able to catch it, which raised some gasps around the group. "Ary, you'll stay on standby. You're gonna be our medical support for if anything goes wrong."

"Understood."

Over the last couple of days, with me being stuck in this bed, Ary was one of the few people who visited us every day. In secret, she used me and Sasha as practice subjects for her healing powers. And boy, oh boy, what results we got. I bet the nurse would've immediately offered her a job. She was absolutely amazing.

"And lastly, Caroline" Gaou to jeel continued. "You'll be staying with me. You're gonna be our eyes. I want you to be our eyes throughout this whole operation. We'll be staying right here. Every team gets one communication lacrima, and I'll be giving you orders and directions. But know; when it comes to a battle…" with this, he grinned 'you're on your own."

I frowned. "Hold up. You're not going?"

Gajeel nodded. "That's right. You brats will be doing all the work."

"Are you serious?" Sasha said, almost whispering. I could hear she was scared, and that made me angry.

"You idiot! We can't do that!" I said, my voice raising without me noticing. I stepped out of the bed, clenching my fists. "Are you insane?"

Gajeel didn't seem the least bit of intimidated. He had an expression on his face similar to when Natsu threatened to kill him. "Why do you always say that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because it's true. We're not wizards, not yet."

For some unexplainable reason, Gajeel chuckled at that. From the corner of my eye I could see Sasha folding her hands together. She had the tendency to do that when she felt nervous. I grinded my teeth. "What's so funny?"

Gajeel took a step forward. "You're right, you're not wizards yet. You're wizards in training. That's why I'm going to let you punks take care of this."

"This is…training?"

All heads turned. For the first time since this gathering, Floyd had opened his mouth. He looked from under his dark hair straight to Gajeel, with almost demonic eyes. "You call this training?"

As always, Gajeel didn't let the situation get to him. "Yes. I take this situation as an opportunity to work on your teamwork and basic magic battling."

"How can you be so heartless?" Caroline commented, tears sounding through her voice. Gajeel didn't move a finger. "His brother…Greg…he's in the hospital because of that thing."

She was right. If we went along with this crazy plan of his we'd surely die. We'd be dead within an hour. That's what we all thought, except for one.

"I'll do it" Floyd said. The determination in his eyes was sending shivers down my spine. I'd never seen him so sure about anything ever, in all the three years I've known him.

"Dude…" was all I could say. I turned around, and somehow my eyes found Sasha's.

Somehow, she smiled.

She wanted to do this. She had to do this. She even nodded at me, just as an extra assuring, which seemed to have been the final push I needed.

If she was going along with it, so was I. We were a team after all. We promised.


	18. Chapter 18: Dance with A Demon - Part 1

**Heyah!**

 **I'm so glad to see people are enjoying the story so far! I'm really trying to stay close to the themes and characters of the original series, which is very clear in this chapter. It turned out to be a little more emotional than I had intended at first, but then again; this is Fairy Tail. Even fillers can make you cry. (*cough* Gray *cough*)**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _C_ _hapter 18: A Dance with a Demon – Part 1_

 **4 hours, 25 minutes till regeneration**

 **Sasha**

Caroline received the first signal not long after launching her radar around the school.

"West wing, close to professor Herb's office. It's not moving."

Gajeel nodded, and turned to us. Us as in me and Samdy. "Team 1, move out."

And so we went on our way. After some arguments we came to the conclusion it would be better for the operation if I held on to the lacrima, since Samdy was an idiot. I didn't even know why Gajeel thought it was a good idea to put us together in the first place.

"Probably because we know each other's strengths already" Samdy suggested, while we were crossing the courtyard. It was already getting dark, and it wouldn't be long till the lanterns would be lit. On a Friday night like this, most of the students had gone home to their parents and most of the teachers had locked themselves far away from the remaining children. A perfect time for this to happen, it seemed. We could work without getting interrupted too much.

"And after what happened to the gym, it's obvious we're a power team" Samdy continued. I couldn't help but to bump my fist harshly into his shoulder. "Aw! Hey, what's that for?"

"For being an idiot" I mumbled, but from the corner of my eye I could see him grin stupidly. Before my cheeks got the chance to redden, I turned to the lacrima, where Caroline's face floated around. "How much further?"

"You're almost there. It's moving slightly East, so try to change course to the left a little."

I frowned. "Wow, Care, you actually sound like some kind of air controller."

She smiled. "I'm doing the best I can. Please be careful, 'kay?"

"Don't worry, Caroline" Samdy said loudly, swinging one arm around my shoulder like we were best buddies. "She's with me on this!"

"That's why she should be careful" Caroline mumbled back, before gasping. "Oh, shit. The thing's moving your way, fast. Get into concentration, now!"

I glanced at Samdy. He nodded, determination in his brown eyes. I have to admit; having him around had its perks. He may've been a pig most of the time, but he could be super serious when needed. And knew exactly what to do and what to say to not make me panic.

We closed our eyes and took deep breaths. I tried not to get too distracted by the danger nearing, which was extremely hard. There was a sound a snake would make when endangered, and it was getting closer. I could almost hear it glide over the stones and forced myself to focus on the warm feeling in my neck, because that's where the centre of my magic was placed. Don't ask me why.

Everyone has one spot on their body where all magic comes together. When concentrated you can force the magic to stream through your body. Some have their centre in their hands, some in their chest, and others in their….well, let's call it her 'private area'. I'm not telling.

I could feel my fingers itch as I gathered more and more magic. I felt my heart beating faster as the snake sound got closer.

"You ready?" Samdy whispered. I peeked through my eyelashes and hummed in agreement. The plan was for Samdy to distract the demon particles, and I would place the bottle in position, contact Caroline, who would alarm Jake, who would then activate the trapping spell. When activated, the bottle can't move around, otherwise it won't work. Due to the slow stream of magic in this part of the world, it takes up to fifteen seconds for the spell to have effect. All in all we had about twenty-five seconds to properly trap the particles.

I could almost feel the limited amount of time breathing in my neck. If we screwed up, it would get nasty.

"I'm moving in, Gajeel" I heard Samdy say. He sounded so determined and so cool. And here I was, a useless piece of garbage, trembling on my feet and barely able to stand.

"Good" our teacher's voice sounded from the lacrima. "Sasha, try to get behind the smoke while it's being attacked. Don't stop, even if he spots you. Just keep going."

"Roger" I answered, and to my annoyance my voice skipped a few octaves. I must've sounded like a lost animal. Caroline noticed it too.

"You're gonna be fine, girl" she said with a warm voice. "I'll be here by your side. Nothing will happen to you."

"I sure hope so" I mumbled, as I watched the smoke slip over the uneven stones of the courtyard. Samdy took a few steps towards it, his hands already in fighting position. The precious bottle stuck out of the back pocket of his jeans. He'd throw it at me as soon as I was in position. According to Jake the thing would sense the bottle, and would only lose interest if something more dangerous would appear in front of him. Samdy would take on that role, and he had to perfectly time the moment when the thing had lost interest. I was so happy my tasks were easy. All I needed to do was trying not to get trapped in the hypnosis.

"Remember: keep breathing and concentrating on warmth" Gajeel's voice sounded in my head. The demon hated warmth and everything hot, so as long as we kept our magic flowing, we'd be fine.

"Rich man's slingshot!" Samdy shouted, swinging his arm back and forth, the diamond at the end of the elastic engaging the monster at a massive speed. "Now, Sasha!"

I took a deep breath and started running towards the black smoke. The magic in my neck felt like it had set fire to my skin, but I didn't mind. Time was everything right now.

Right before I was about to touch the darkness, I dashed to the right, taking a sharp turn around. My feet slipped over the stones as I came to a halt.

"Jake, get ready!" I shouted at the marble in my hand. Meanwhile Samdy launched another shot at the darkness. It let out a growl as the diamond touched its skin. Samdy breathed heavily. He hadn't used magic since the fight in the gym and I was kinda worried about him.

I bowed over the marble. "Caroline! What the-"

I suddenly felt really cold. The light coming from the marble had died out. We'd lost communication.

"Sasha!" I heard Samdy wheeze. "Catch!"

In my head I put some more oil on the fire in my neck. Samdy was still fighting and looked like he could faint any minute. There wasn't any time to panic.

I put the marble carefully on the ground, and held up my hands. With an almost professional swing Samdy threw the bottle over the head of the darkness, which let out another terrifying growl. I ignored my Goosebumps and jumped up. Pushing the bottle against my chest I landed back on my feet. I just hoped we had enough time.

Kneeling down I placed the bottle on the ground.

"Millionaire launcher!" Samdy shouted, as he aimed three different slingshots at the darkness. They all hit bull's eye, but the price was high. Samdy fell on his knees, sweat dripping down his face.

I stared back at the bottle, hoping it would somehow start the countdown if I just wished hard enough. But no numbers appeared in the sand.

"Damn it!" I screamed at the thing. The darkness was moving closer to Samdy. His body had probably gone cold after using so much magic. He couldn't keep up.

I took my head in my hands, praying to any god out there for an answer. What was I supposed to do?

The darkness let out another growl, and I swear I could feel the ground under me shaking. Why wouldn't anyone come to help us? If it went on like this, Samdy would end up like Greg, maybe even worse.

I folded my hands into fists, trapping my hair between my fingers. It hurt, but it was the only thing keeping me from screaming. I didn't know what to do. I felt so useless. Truly, I wanted to help, but my body just wouldn't move. I wanted to fight, to save Sam, to trap that monster and make everyone proud….

Wait.

Proud?

Why?

Why proud?

Why do I care?

Is it because of…?

Despite the situation I was in, a smile appeared on my face. Or more like a smirk. A stupid smirk.

Why was I lying to myself? Why would I keep repeating the same words over and over again? The lies, the threats, the curses. None of it was true.

He'd always told me I had no talent. That I was nothing but an abomination. A dramatic mistake of the universe. He said he'd always wished for a normal child, a daughter who could go to a normal school, get good grades in normal classes, make normal friends and have normal hobbies. Not a freak who'd glue people's hands together, who could make webs like a spider and sometimes slept on the ceiling instead of her bed.

He wanted a girl to be proud of. And no matter how much I tried, I couldn't please him. But why?

Why did I still care? He told me I was pathetic, and at that moment I actually believed that. I was pathetic because I was useless. But those were all his words, not mine.

I would never be able to please him. I was sure of that. And as long as I couldn't please him, he wouldn't love me. And that is just a sick psychology I can't accept.

Why did I come to this school? To make use of my abnormality.

Are you happy here? Yes, I am. Happier than I've ever felt in my entire life.

Then why care about someone who doesn't care about you?

"WRAH!" This was the sound that came out of me when I stood up. I felt so, so angry. At myself, the world, my father, the universe. The stupid marble. The darkness that was about to eat my friend.

I was done being useless.

"WRAAAAAH!" I screamed again, feeling tears rolling down my burning face. I was on fire. Magical flames danced throughout my body.

This was the place I belonged in. And I'd do everything to protect it.

Here were the people I cared for. I'd do anything to save them.

It felt like my feet weren't even touching the ground anymore as I ran towards the darkness. From the corner of my eye I saw Samdy's jaw drop as he looked at me. He seemed surprised, shocked, happy and….proud.

Out of nowhere, a sob emerged from deep within. It mixed up with a growl of anger and when it got out it was the worst thing I'd ever heard, but I didn't care. I knew exactly what to do.

The smoke had noticed me, but had no time to respond. I held up my hand, and strains of glue splattered all around the dark particles. I felt like I was flying while I moved around the smoke, wrapping the darkness completely in the rope made of sticky liquid. I ran and ran, and the fire in my neck would only grow stronger and stronger. This was my moment to shine, and I wouldn't waste it.

"Sasha!" Samdy suddenly called. As I kept running, I turned my head to look at him. He pointed at the bottle, which was starting to glow. "Nine seconds!"

I nodded, and grabbed the rope attached to the glue with both hands. I made sure my hands wouldn't stick to it as I dragged the dark particles towards the bottle.

"Four seconds remaining!" Samdy wheezed, desperately trying to stand up. I grinded my teeth, pulling the captured demon for another two feet. "Two!"

The tip of the bottle burst open, and two neon-lit hands appeared. My arms were burning and my neck felt sore, but I still managed to lift the trapped demon up in the air, basically throwing it in the hands of the curse. They caught it with ease.

The last growl the demon let out was one which would haunt me for the rest of my life, but it would also remind me of the day I became myself.


	19. Chapter 19: Dance with a Demon - Part 2

**Heyo!**

 **I got some really good responses from last chapter, which I was very happy about! Personally, I thought it might've come out of the blue, but on the other hand I try my hardest not to make all my OCs Mary Sue-kind of people. They're human after all ;)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail. I've recently launched a YT channel though...)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 19: A Dance with a Demon – Part 2_

 **4 hours, 6 minutes till regeneration**

 **Ibisan**

We stood there, frozen. At the other end of the room stood Gajeel, holding the lacrima in his arms, covering it with a cloth. Underneath we could all hear Sasha's desperate screams for help and the growling of the darkness trying to get to her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Caroline shouted, closing her eyes. Immediately the map she'd been projecting on the wall disappeared. The last thing I saw was the tiny dot, which was supposed to be Samdy, flickering.

"Why are you cutting off the communication?!" Caroline continued, getting out of her chair. Another cry emerged from the marble, and it gave me massive Goosebumps. What the hell was he doing?

"Cut it out, man" I said, taking a step forward. "This isn't funny. They need our help!"

Gajeel's face was anything but amused. He looked dead serious, as if he was doing everything according to plan.

For a moment, I thought he had betrayed us somehow. That all of it was just a game. The rumour going around of him being a criminal just wouldn't leave my mind. What if all of it was just one giant lie?

Sadly, I wasn't bright enough to notice any signs giving that away, but from that point on I watched his every move. Even after he explained his actions.

"Let them be for now" he said. This made me angry. I thought of what Samdy would do in this situation. I knew he didn't particularly like Gajeel, but he respected him somehow. But this….I couldn't accept that. My best bud was in danger.

"Let them be? Dude, they'll die if we do that!"

At that, Gajeel snorted. As if he thought this fact was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. This made me even more pissed. I turned around and wanted to walk out of the hospital wing. If he wasn't going to help them, then I would.

"You don't have a lot of trust, do you?"

I stopped. Just two more steps towards the door. I wanted to glare over my shoulder, but figured I didn't have time for something badass at the moment, so I continued walking.

"In them, I mean? In your friend?"

I had my hand on the doorknob. I suddenly noticed the screams from the lacrima had gone silent. Were they…?

"You don't think they can handle themselves? Do you think they're not strong enough? Or is it the way they work together which you don't like?"

I didn't have time for this crap. Both Samdy and Sasha had just gotten out of bed after being injured, they missed out on a lot of training. Of course they weren't ready.

"Gajeel?"

A voice emerged from the lacrima. It was Sasha, heavily panting. I turned around, seeing all my other classmates hold their breaths.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but we did it. The thing's inside the bottle now. Samdy's not looking so well, though-"

"Nah, I'm fine" his voice sounded from the background. Sasha seemingly giggled at that.

"We'll be heading back to the Hospital ward, I guess. We'll see you there."

Gajeel grinned, his sharp crocodile teeth glimmering. With a smooth swing he removed the cloth from the marble. "Good job. Head back to base."

Sasha let out a sigh of relief when she finally got an answer after having lost communication. Or rather; being cut off. "Ok."

Her face disappeared from the marble, which Gajeel let spin around his index finger, giving me a 'told yah'- look.

Caroline sunk back into her seat, tears of joy twinkling in her eyes. Layton gave me a confused look, as if I had the answers. I shrugged.

"Listen up, punks" Gajeel said, stepping towards the table which Caroline sat at. "In situations like this, wizards don't always have the luxury of a stable communication. Most of the time you're on your own. Since you're all wizards in training, I'm gonna teach you all about the flaws of magic battles. This is one. But," he placed the lacrima on the desk, "since this is your first experience, you'll receive a lacrima for the first part of the mission, which is locating the enemy. After that, you'll have one minute to place the trap before the countdown starts. Time is of the essence here. If you fail…well, you'll be in deep shit."

"This is insane!" Layton grunted, crossing his arms. "You're insane!"

Gajeel shrugged. "Can't argue with that. But what I can say, is that all I'm doing here is confront you with reality. Sure, I can keep up the act of meditating and gathering magical particles, but what's next? You'll graduate for being a monk instead of a wizard." Leaning with one hand on the desk, he eyed Layton. I don't think I've ever seen him this serious. "Your choice."

This was one of those moments that we, the class full of freaks, all eyed one another. We'd been together for almost three years now. We'd become roomies, best friends, family. We all had our pasts and backgrounds, but none of that was ever discussed. We lived in the present, the now. The freaks of the magic school. A squad of weirdos. We went through the same shitty classes, had the same depressing view of a future as a magician of some kind.

And then Gajeel came along. We were all wary at first, afraid of the new things he showed us. We'd never had a teacher like this. We only experienced the wannabe's and the fake ones. He shone new light on our abilities. We started to trust him more and more. We chose to.

At that moment, in the Hospital wing, with several demon particles running around the school and the clock ticking, we had to choose again.

Caroline took a deep breath and made the map appeared on the wall before her, projecting from her eyes. Jake grabbed the sack of purified powder and asked Ary to hand him another bottle. Layton stretched his shoulders, Rose sat down on one of the beds and began gathering magic. We went back to preparing for the mission, and even tried harder knowing the new rules.

Gajeel straightened his back, a slight grin around his sharp mouth. He seemed satisfied with the impact his words had on us. I stepped away from the door. Maybe this was the right decision.

"I got two new signals" Caroline said, pointing at the projection. Two red dots moved around the green screen. "One's nearing the gardens, the other one is in the library."

Gajeel nodded. "Team two and three, you're up."

Rose jumped up, while Martin rubbed his hands nervously.

"We'll take the library" Rose said, with a kind of determination I'd never expect from her. Martin just nodded, keeping watch over Rose from the corner of his eyes. I wondered if he fancied Rose, which surprised me. Not because of Rose, but because Martin didn't look like a person who cares what anyone thinks of him. I made a note in my head I'd have to ask him about it once it's all over.

"Then the garden's ours" Layton nodded, raising his hand as a means of a high five. "Let's do this."

 **Caroline**

"Team three, are you in position?"

" _Nope, but we're getting there. You don't have to leave yet, beautiful"_

"Ibisan, you idiot."

" _What? I finally got a girl to talk to me, so I'm gonna make use of it."_

 **"Keep it formal, punks."**

* * *

"Sure thing, sir."

" _Damn, Martin! We're not in the army! Have you been binging Call of Duty or something?"_

* * *

"N-no…I'm keeping it formal, like he asked."

 **"Something you can learn from, mister."**

"Team two, how are things at your end?"

"WE'RE NEARING THE GATES, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM YET."

" _Well, he isn't the only thing you should watch out for…"_

"AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPPOSED TO MEAN?"

" _See, Rose, although I have different preferences considering love interests, I've got a feeling there is someone who sees you having all the aspects he longs for…"_

"Cut it out, Ibisan."

" _I'm just saying, love…"_

 **"Concentration now, chatter later."**

" _How about you, Gajeel? You've never told us much about your love life, but how is it?"_

 **"Didn't you hear what I just said?"**

"HE'S EVADING."

" _Yup."_

 **"Seven."**

" _Seven? Seven what?"_

 **"Seven girlfriends. One for each day of the week."**

" _Oh, how original. Seriously, though-"_

* * *

"We've spotted the enemy."

" _Here he comes again, with that military talk…"_

"WE'RE READY. I BET WE'LL STOP TALKING HERE."

"Yeah, the minute starts now. Good luck."

* * *

"Thanks. Layton, Ibisan….good luck to you too."

" _Thanks, soldier. Just….don't die, ok?"_

* * *

"I'll consider it."

" _Ha, jackass…"_

"Team three, any signs yet?"

" _Considering we just walked in here; no."_

"Can you give us any clues which direction he might be?"

"The signal's getting weaker. He's….he's moving around a lot."

 **"Split up."**

"What?"

 **"You have a better chance of finding it if you separate. The library ain't that big, so you probably won't have to fight it alone."**

" _Great. This reminds me of this stupid horror game…what's it called again?"_

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

 **"What's a video game?"**

"It's a game played on a screen, and you mostly play with a controller-"

" _Hold on….you don't know what a video game is?"_

"Of course not, he's from a magic kingdom, you idiot!"

" _And they don't have video games there?"_

 **"No. Same as you not knowing what a lacrima is."**

" _Yeah, but…what do you do in your free time, then?"_

 **"Concentration, Ibisan. Layton's nearing the particles."**

" _Jeez, you really don't want to tell us anything. Which direction?"_

"East."

" _Ah, man! That's where I rent my DVD's! I can't fight there!"_

"Suck it up, Ibisan! We don't have time for this!"

 **"Listen to the lady, punk."**

" _Alright, alright…I'm just freaking out a little."_

"You'll be fine. You're physically one of the strongest here."

" _I sure hope so."_

"Just tell me when you've met up with Layton."

" _I see him."_

"Ok, the minute's starting. Good-"

" _Caroline, wait."_

"What's wrong?"

" _I'm scared."_

"Ibisan…"

" _I don't know if I can do this…"_

"Of course you can. And even if you can't, Layton is there too. And he's counting on you."

" _I'm serious, I'm freaking out here."_

"I know that, but you can't leave Layton on his own. He's fighting the demon alone, and that's not part of the plan. You're a team, you're supposed to do it together."

" _But I can't."_

"Yes, you can. Get away from that shelf. Layton has the bottle, right?"

" _Y-yes."_

"Then all you have to do is place it and wait for Jake to activate it."

" _You make it sound so simple."_

"It _is_ simple, Ibisan. Sign Layton to throw the bottle, place it, and help him keep that thing busy. You don't have to use magic if you don't want to."

" _Y-yeah."_

"Great. I'll be cutting you guys off now-"

" _Caroline?"_

"Yes?"

" _Thanks."_

"S-sure. Good luck, Ibisan."

I leaned back in my chair, my eyes following the blue dot moving towards the red dot. Poor Ibisan.

"Good work" Gajeel grumbled behind me. I didn't respond, too taken by my own thoughts.

Ibisan sounded nervous the entire time. He cracked jokes, tried to keep the conversation going as a means of not having to think about what was to come next. The poor soul.

I thought to myself that I should give him a hug when he comes back. He deserved it.

A tiny bell rang inside my head, and I looked upon the screen. A tiny remembrance telling me I too had to keep my head in the game. They're all counting on me. I can't goof off. "I got a new signal incoming."

"Team four" Gajeel said, turning to Lilly and Tilly. "Got everything?"

"Bottle and lacrima, check!" Tilly responded, clearly way too excited. I couldn't help but smile. At least someone was having a blast during all this.


	20. Chapter 20: Dance with a demon - Part 3

**'Allo sweets!**

 **Chapter 20, damn. Time flies. I honestly have no idea how long his story will last, because I have loads of cool ideas and when I made a story line I ended up having to make at least a 100 chapters...Oh well, we'll see.**

 **Of course, I wish you all a good Christmas. Eat a lot and get fat like me.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 20: A Dance with a Demon – Part 3_

 **2 hours and 49 minutes remaining**

 **Tilly**

The moment I closed the bottle, I felt an adrenaline rush flowing through my body. I jumped onto my feet and ran over to Lily. She'd taken on the distraction, which had taken its toll. She looked exhausted, and about to faint.

"We did it!" I said, hoping to cheer her up. She cracked a smile, weakly raising her arm.

"High five."

Instead of answering, I just grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Later. Let's get back. You look like shit."

Lily chuckled, which went over in a cough. "Gee, thanks."

I let her lean a bit on me, while I also held onto the bottle, which contained the demon particles. Looking back, I thought it was way too easy. We had about five seconds left to zero, where we had to do our best to keep the demon from leaking out again.

Maybe we'd just gotten lucky and got to fight the weakest parts. Or the demon itself was getting weaker now that most of the particles had been contained. Team one, team two and three had all successfully won at their end. I bet Gajeel was proud.

"Hey" Lily said after a while.

"Hm?"

"There's…something I've been wanting to ask you about."

I frowned. She was about to pass out and she wanted to have a mystery chat? "What is it?"

"Just…how did you get involved?"

"Involved with what?"

Lily chuckled in disbelief. "C'mon, you know what I'm talking about. This whole thing. There was a select group of people who knew what was going on. Jake, Layton, Rose, Kai of course….and you."

I pursed my lips. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to talk yet. "Well, I guess I can tell you. There was this one night where I was wandering around the schools, in my invisible mode, you know. I accidently overheard Gajeel talking to…." Shit. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about I _that_. "…a lacrima. I was sure he couldn't see me, but….well…"

"What?"

Somehow I grinned. "It's kinda stupid, but you know he's a dragon slayer, right?"

Lily snorted. "Yeah, so? What does that have to do with it?"

"Well…he smelled me. Literally. He couldn't see, but he smelled me."

Lily was silent for a while, as if that had to sink in. "What the hell…"

"And after that, he said that I had to either work with him, or get expelled, because he couldn't let that precious info leak out-"

"So he blackmailed you?"

I thought back to that time Gajeel told me to stay after class. He wasn't threatening at all, just very business-like. When Rose got into this mess, after having seen him on a train to town, I felt a lot less special, and when Layton and then Jake got involved it got even more messy. But they didn't know anything about Gajeel's plans with Headmaster Kubo, but he assured me as long as I kept my mouth shut nothing bad was going to happen to me or anyone else. I just happened to overhear a conversation about something greater.

"I guess…but it's fine" I mumbled as an answer. For a while we walked in silence. Lily felt better and better and figured she could walk by herself, so there were, two girls strolling in the dark with a demon in a bottle and a talking marble.

"Team four?" Caroline's voice sounded from the lacrima. I held the thing in front of me, feeling a little anxious. Her voice sounded really, really serious.

"Yeah, we're here…?" I said, eyeing Lily, who froze.

"I got another signal in coming," Caroline said slowly. "And…just don't panic-"

"Where?" Lily interrupted her, her voice skipping a few octaves at the end.

"It's….it's right beneath you. Just….step aside. Like, right now."

After hearing that I basically jumped back, and launched myself a little too far back. My feet slipped over the stones of the old corridor. Lily did the same and hid behind a pillar.

A second later, smoke rose from the ground, at the spot we were just standing. I gasped and stepped back even more, till I hit a wall.

This one looked different than before. Half an hour ago we were fighting of a smoke figure, which boiled and spat like soup.

But this one had fangs. It had thin arms, pulling itself up from a hole in the ground. As if it came from hell. It was still cloaked by a dark mist, but it looked more like a monster than before.

"Shit!" I whispered. It was also bigger than before, the spot where I figured the head would be almost hit the ceiling. "What are we supposed to do, Caroline?!"

"I…I…-"

"We're sending Kai and Floyd over" Gajeel's voice interfered. "Just try to keep it busy till they arrive. Don't move around too much, otherwise they can't find you."

For some reason, I calmed down a bit by the sound of his voice. He was so persistent and knew what he was doing. That's the kind of teacher I prefer.

"But…I don't know if we can hold out for long" I said back, seeing Lily's sorry state. The demon seemed to have emerged as a whole and was now deciding who he would attack first. From the looks of it, it was going to be me.

"They'll be there soon. They're on their way now."

I saw a round thing turning towards me, with two red lights looking straight at me. "Send another team. This thing's bigger. I think….I think it's the demon itself."

It stayed silent at the other end of the lacrima. I felt disturbance in the air around me, and realized the thing was taking a deep breath.

"Guys?" I said softly, my voice slowly fading. I only heard a cough.

 **Kai**

Gajeel looked concerned. And that was scary as shit. If _he_ shitting his pants, what were we supposed to feel?

Throughout the entire operation I felt guilty. That thing everyone was fighting now came out of me. I brought it here (unintentionally, of course, but still my fault.)

And now the thing had found a way to somehow regain its abilities before the time we'd so carefully calculated.

"Listen up, punks" Gajeel said. The people who were present turned their heads, which was only half of our class. Ibisan and Layton hadn't returned yet, neither had Martin and Rose. "Everyone here goes out there, now. Jake, prepare at least four bottles, 'cause we don't know how strong that thing is. Caroline, you contact the other teams and tell them our position. After that, you're following too. Sam, Sasha, get out of bed."

He was talking faster than normal, but there was no panic. Just a little concern and…excitement?

Of course. Who could blame him.

By only looking at him, even a child could say that he fought a lot. He had several tiny scars on his arms, and who knew what those gloves were hiding. He was trained to kill dragons, fighting humans was probably the same as killing flies (which was scary to think about)

I took a deep breath. We were about to fight my demon. Damn.

Floyd walked up to Jake, who was working his ass off preparing as many bottles as possible. Without saying anything, Floyd grabbed one and made his way to the exit.

"Floyd, wait up" I said, before he could open the door. He didn't turn around, but turned the doorknob.

"I'm just going on ahead" he mumbled emotionlessly. I'd never seen him like this. Ever.

He was one half of the twins who pulled pranks at everyone and their mother. They were adored by younger students and hated by teachers. They brought smiles on everyone's faces wherever they went.

But the balance got ripped apart. One half was now in the hospital, and the one who caused that to happen was out there. Of course he wanted to go get that bastard, but there was no way he could do that on his own.

"I'll go with you" I said, as I went after him. Before I left the room, I eyed Gajeel. He slightly nodded, meaning he wouldn't be far behind. "We're a team, right?"

"Sure" Floyd mumbled/answered. I had to fasten my pace in order to keep up, since he was in a real hurry. He wasn't running just yet, but more like half-running (no, not jogging.)

"I'm guessing you want the distraction part, right?" I said. It wasn't even a joke.

"Not really."

I stopped walking. Just….what the hell. "Are you serious?"

Floyd just kept walking, but he did glare over his shoulder. "I just want this whole mess to be over. That's all."

"Y-yeah, of course, man. Totally get it."

It was then that I realized that underneath all those jokes and grins hid a guy who cherished his family above anything else. It wasn't about pride, or vengeance, or anything stupid like that.

"Where was it again?" he asked, turning around.

"Uh, I thought the cafeteria or something-"

At that moment, a growl emerged from somewhere, echoing through the corridor (I swear I thought the walls were shaking)

"Well, there's your answer" I mumbled sarcastically. From then on we ran towards the scene, and all we had to do was follow the weird animal like growling and sometimes I heard Tilly screaming even louder. I had no idea what she was doing, but it didn't sound like it was going very well. I hoped we would make it in time. If anyone would die tonight, that blood would be on my hands.


	21. Chapter 21: Dance with a Demon - Part 4

**Heyo!**

 **NEW CHAPTER! I'M GENUINELY EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS TO READ IT!**

 **Warning; Lots of feelz.**

 **ALSO: Happy New Year in advance!**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 21: A Dance With A Demon – Part 4 (End)_

 **1 hour remaining**

 **Floyd**

When we arrived at the scene, the first thing I thought was: crap.

Lily lay against a pillar, unconscious. Tilly sat on her knees, leaning on one hand and trying to fend off the demon erupting from a portal in the floor. Layton came running from the library, barely able to even stand, and Ibisan wasn't far behind. From what I could see, he had a black eye and blood dripping down one side of his face. Martin dragged one leg behind him, his face drooling pain. Rose was nowhere to be seen, as she was probably too weak to move around.

Gajeel said he was would follow with Ary, and I was hoping they could somehow teleport here, because damn; we needed them badly.

"Ok" Kai said, and I turned to look at him while we ran up to the crap. His face looked pale as a sheet and his eyes glassy, as if his mind had troubles somewhere else. "Ok, ok."

"That all you gonna say?" I mumbled, as I fastened my pace a little. We needed to finish this quick, otherwise all our efforts would be for naught. Greg's efforts.

The demon seemed bigger than I remembered. It basically covered most of the space in the hall and was as tall as the pillars the school was leaning on. If one of those happened to break, the roof would come down on all of us.

Which didn't seem like a bad idea, actually. If it would stop the demon, I wouldn't mind sacrificing school.

I would practically sacrifice school for everything. Except Gajeel's classes, of course.

To be honest; I was bad shit crazy. I was so mad seeing that bastard again. Revenge is stupid, of course. I watched enough anime to realize that. But I just couldn't help it.

"Get the girls" I said to Kai, which would be a cool phrase if we were at a party. Now, it just meant 'save everyone'. Kai nodded, although he didn't really look like the hero we needed. More like one of the girls he was supposed to save.

As thus we split up, Kai heading over to Lily and I to Tilly. The demon stretched out a thin arm, almost like the branch of a really ugly tree. I didn't even take the time to properly gather my magic. I just mad the air shove his stupid arm back a little, so it wouldn't touch my classmate.

In those few seconds I was able to hold that, I shoved myself between Tilly and the claw.

"Floyd?" she gasped, not at all happy to see me. Here I am, saving the day, and this is how she responded. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass" I mumbled over my shoulder, as I was too focused on the danger in front of me.

"Don't be stupid" she said, and this time she sounded concerned. Just like Kai did before.

Why does everyone immediately think I'm that 'VENGENCE'-kind-of-guy?

"Don't worry" I sighed, folding my hands. "I can't get any stupider."

I let go of the claw, and it immediately came crushing down at me. Dashing back, I grinned a little. C'mon, I could at least enjoy this fight a little. At that moment I absolutely wanted to taste the sweetness of beating the crap out of this bastard.

For my first attack, I took the time to gather magic. I felt the atmosphere shaking around the demon, who seemed to understand what was going on and somehow tried to keep all the magic to himself.

Ain't happenin', bro. You're going down.

"Flying ropes!" I shouted, as I aimed my hands at the monster. I had to make sure this sucker would be flying, so Kai could have a shot at closing the portal by cracking the floors.

The demon let out a surprised scream as it bumped his head into the ceiling, and struggled to get back on the ground. My grin widened.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Kai already running to do his part. The demon saw it too.

Before I could react, it stretched out another thin arm.

"Shit!" I cursed, turning around. But it was too late.

The end of the arm formed a fist and slammed itself in Kai's stomach. His eyes widened in surprise. The air loudly left his lungs as he flew backwards by the shock.

"No!" I shouted, as if that would somehow do something. Kai got slammed into a pillar, and his eyes rolled back in his head as his body slid down.

"Damnit!" I whispered, feeling more anger in my stomach. I tightened my grip around this stupid, ugly, filthy, evil, dark demon and I enjoyed the satisfaction as it screamed in pain.

"Floyd!" Layton had finally arrived, breathing heavily. The demon moved around, as if it noticed his presence.

"Oh hell no, not again" I told that sucker, as I used the invisible hand which I was holding the bastard in against the wall. It screamed out again, and this time the walls and pillars seemed to tremble. This thing was really, really pissed now. But not as pissed as me.

I was actually so pissed that for a moment, I didn't know what to do. I had this demon in my hand, but what now? It was already clear that one bottle wouldn't be enough to trap this bitch. And Jake was really taking his time getting here.

I had to think of my next attack. It had to be something that would stun him till the others would arrive. And clearly I was the only capable of still doing that.

Layton looked like shit, Ibisan was half dead already, Martin probably had a broken leg, Tilly was about to faint, Lily was unconscious and Kai might've died right there. At that moment I wasn't sure of anything.

"Dang…" I mumbled, as I felt my arms were getting sore. I couldn't hold on for much longer. Where the heck was Gajeel?!

How did this shit get so complicated?

All my brother and I ever wanted was to make enough money to buy food. To stay alive and out of the hands of the police. We'd been in the system for too long and it was all too clear that no one wanted two weirdos as kids. Not even our own parents did.

Our favourite food was waffles, but only those of the little baker in the mall where we always hung around. They were quite expensive, and it always took us two or three days to gather the money. And it was worth it.

Back then, the only goal in our lives was to gather money to buy waffles. In those days, people on the streets loved two boys who could do magic tricks. No one knew the secret behind our floating pencils. We even asked the passer byers to gives us any item from their purse, which we would send flying around their heads. We were applauded, but left with only a few cents. Greedy bastards.

We once had a rough week. It took us eight days to get the money. And when we finally headed over to the bakery, with our stomach whispering in our ears, it was closed. For good.

Instead, this high class designer store would be built. No waffles, only on t-shirts.

We spend the money on some bread instead, which might've been a better idea from the start. But it just didn't deliver the same satisfaction as waffles.

With the disappearance of the waffles in our lives, there wasn't much left. We continued doing magic tricks, but with less motivation. Slowly but surely, the light died out.

But one day, this guy in a fancy coat appeared. We first thought he was a pimp or something, but he turned out to be something else. Looking back, I think I might've seen that guy in one of the crowds that same day. He said he loved our act and had a place to offer in a circus. We agreed, on one condition; waffles for life.

And so we joined the a parade of freaks, our weirdness exploited to a greater audience. We were the stars.

For about two years, that was. We returned, no, got thrown, back on the streets. We were angry at the pimp, at the circus, at the baker, at the people, at the world. Greg said he wished he could slap all of it in the face, crush it. I agreed.

But we knew we couldn't. We didn't have the power, and something more important.

It was Kubo who told us. He found us scavenging in a trash can, told us how admired he was by our abilities, and respected our kindness.

"Kindness?" I had frowned. When I eyed my brother, he had shrugged, as if he didn't know either.

Kubo had grinned, and I remember a gold teeth glimmering in the dark. "Yes. Allow me to explain. You two possess a remarkable power. A rare power even an intellect such as myself has barely ever seen the likes of. You have already trained this a lot at such a young age, but I like to believe that with proper teaching, you two could really change the world."

"The…world?" Greg had whispered. Kubo nodded.

"Yes. I understand this might be hard to believe. People have looked down upon you for your entire lives. They've cursed you, neglected you, pushed you around like filth. But they're blind. They've never seen the potential. You have the power to do great harm to these horrible people, and deep down the both of you are aware of that. Yet you choose not to." He leaned forward, his golden tooth glimmering. "That is what I call 'kindness'."

Next, he told us about this magical place he lived in, where there were all kinds of kids like us. We, as twelve year old boys without a future, barely any muscle and only each other to hold at night, didn't hesitate to follow him to this new world. We didn't even ask about waffles.

Although most of my classmates don't particularly liked Merlin's School of Magic, Greg and I both cried when we got to sleep in a bed again. Sure, we didn't ever do any homework and mostly fooled around during class, but at least we had a place to sleep. Sure, there was no future in it for us, but we had friends. And of course, we would probably end up back on the streets after we graduated here, and that's why we would enjoy our time here for as long as possible.

But then Gajeel got in the way. He lifted the curtain and showed us a whole lot of other possibilities. There was a continent full of people like us. Greg and I immediately decided we would head over there. No matter what. Even if they don't have waffles.

Greg and I would go together, like we always did. But as long as this demon was around, we couldn't go.

Then it hit me. I knew what I had to do.

Greg and I had spent days and nights doing homework. Gajeel's assignments, I mean. We had developed the most amazing spell ever created. In our opinion, that was. Only the two of us could perform this spell. The two of us.

And here I was, all alone, my friends injured and my teacher missing.

There was no time to think about it. I had to do this technique. It might be the only way to keep this monster from hurting anyone ever again.

I folded my hands into fists and slammed them together. The amount of magic it took made my arms feel sore. I don't think I've ever bit my tongue so hard.

The point of this spell was to suck away all the air around the enemy. Together with Greg, I would spin a net of magic which would extract all air and magic from the places it touched. Since the making of the net takes a lot of effort, we always did this one together.

And this was just a grim reminder why.

"C'mon, c'mon!" I whispered, as I stretched my arms further and further. The demon had no realized it was free again, and spun around like a tornado on steroids. With my arms spreading the net got wider and wider. I felt all the blood leaving my limbs. But it was working. I was doing it. It would work. It just had to.

"It kinda looks like a waffle" I heard Greg say. Through the tears streaming down my face, I grinned. Yes, it did look like a delicious waffle.


	22. Chapter 22: Rough Weekend

**First: Happy New Years!**

 **Second: Sorry for the late update. After the Holidays, my writing schedule got a little screwed up. I mostly write chapters one week in advance, but I missed two deadlines already, which I had to make up for. Yeah, maybe updating three fanfics and rewriting one AND writing two original stories weekly wasn't such a good idea...New Year's resolution: get better at planning.**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 22: Rough Weekend_

 **Kuchiha**

I had had the shittiest weekend in history of weekends. First I had a fight with my mom, then the train had issues, so I couldn't go home to my own house. I had to sleep at work, and the first night was just horrible.

I kept hearing children scream and talk and running around the building, but I was too tired to get out of bed and scold them for it. The following day I wished I'd done that, because that might've saved the school a lot of money.

Half of the building was damaged. Several pillars were cracked, and most of the hallways seemed to collapse at any second. Unfortunately, I couldn't say who the vandals were, since there are about 500 students in this school and I can't all recognize them by voice. Yes, 500 isn't much, even for a boarding school. It means 500 kids with special abilities from all over the country are here. Kubo picked the best ones, I assumed.

On Monday morning, after I had my coffee, I headed to Kubo's office. The poor janitor was still cleaning up the mess from Friday. It was quite a job to do on your own.

From around the corridor, two boys came running, almost bumping into me. Just an inch further and I'd spilled my coffee over my blouse. Neither of them apologized, which made me even more irritated. They just kept running like it was nobody's business.

I was about to call them back, but then I noticed one of the boy's had a bandage on the side of his head. I then remembered the boy who'd been hospitalized after a sport's accident. And despite them running through the hallways, I smiled. He seemed to be doing alright.

With a sigh, I continued my stroll towards the headmaster's office. Touching the doorknob, I knew this was again going to be a day full of evil plans of destruction. No wonder my mom hated me. She knew what I was doing without me telling her.

I knocked, then pushed the door open. Kubo hated it when I forgot to knock. Yet I still seemed to interrupt him.

Professor Redfox, the newest addition to the personnel of this school, was standing in front of the desk where Kubo sat at. They both turned their heads towards me, looking irritated.

I backed up a little. "I can go?"

Kubo glanced at Redfox, then back at me. A grin appeared on his face, with a golden teeth glimmering which always annoyed me. "No, that's alright. I was hoping you'd come early. I'm in need of some notifications, so if you could?"

He pointed at a table at right, next to the drawers where I'd found the plans for 'The Squid'. I quickly nodded. "Of course."

I quickly walked past mister Redfox, whom I felt uneasy around ever since our first encounter. There was just something about him that didn't fit well with me. He didn't really seem to care that I was present, because he turned his head back towards Kubo and didn't look at me while passing him.

"Right, Gajeel," Kubo continued, as if I didn't just come in "you were saying?"

Redox crossed his arms. "I'm takin' the blame for the damage done. The kids had nothin' to do with it."

Kubo nodded slowly. "Well, how did it happen?"

"I farted."

I let out a giggle, and the two men looked at me as if I'd done something horrible. "Sorry…?"

Kubo shook his head, as if he felt embarrassed for some reason. "Of course, that was a joke. Can you tell me what really happened?"

While they kept their conversation going, I readied my type machine. Kubo wanted me to note down everything important. But I don't think he meant the 'fart'- part.

Redfox shrugged. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Kubo's grin widened, but not because he was amused. It was the kind of grin which gestured he was losing his patience. "Well, now you've made me curious. Enlighten me."

Refox seemingly narrowed his red eyes. "Several lacrima I had in stock were stolen. I'm talkin' about the little ones, about the size of a pearl. I left my window open, and I think a bird or somthin' stole 'm."

I noted down 'lacrema stolen, susceptibly birds/small animals, caused explosions.' That would do it, I thought.

But Kubo wasn't satisfied. His grin faded a little, almost unnoticeable. But I worked here long enough to know when he wasn't pleased. "I see. Interesting story."

Redfox didn't flinch a bit. "Like I said; you wouldn't believe it when I told you."

Kubo leaned back in his chair, his grin getting weaker and weaker. "I had no knowledge of the existence of smaller lacrima. Truly….fascinating."

Redfox still didn't show any signs of feeling the heat under his feet. "They're not that long on the market. I got most of mine from the underground, which is why the quality was so bad. I got rid of the rest right away."

"Indeed a smart move" Kubo mumbled. "Thank you for your explanation. I guess the Blazer Twins were innocent after all. Which is surprising considering their reputation."

Redfox hummed agreeably. "They're a handful, indeed. But I'll take care of that."

Kubo nodded, even though he didn't believe a single word. "I'm sure you will. You are dismissed, Gajeel."

Redfox nodded slightly and then left the room, still in that calm state, as if he knew what he was doing. Kubo stared at the door Redox closed behind him, his lips pursed and his eyes narrowed, as if he was thinking. He placed one hand on his desk, his fingers tapping on the edge.

"That was the biggest bullshit I ever heard" he mumbled after a while. "Lacrima's exploding…gimme a break!"

He pushed himself from his chair and walked away from his desk, towards a cabinet as his left. "I know he's double crossing. He's too obvious. That whole story about bringing Fairy Tail down…was all a lie." It seemed as if the Headmaster was talking to himself more than me. But I still made notes. Not on a typewriter, but in my notebook. I figured Redfox might find this information useful to whatever he was trying to do to bring Kubo down.

 **Lucy Heartfilia**

"Whaaaaat?!" Levy's voice jumped several octaves as her surprise grew and her cheeks reddened. "What happened next?"

I shrugged, and kinda felt the same kind of concern Levy was feeling. "I don't know, he hasn't contacted again." Levy's expression now spoke desperation, and I felt stupid for bringing this up. "But….I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a dragon slayer after all!"

She nodded at that. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right. It can't be that hard to beat a magic absorbing demon in a world where there barely is any magic…." Her voice faded. "It kinda is, isn't it?"

"Levy, there is something I wanted to ask you" I interrupted her. It had been bugging me for a long time, so much so that I didn't go out on any jobs during the time she was away. Shadow Gear seemed to be on a roll and accepted request after request, meaning they were never really around. I didn't want to be away when they got back. My money was almost gone, and if I didn't ask what I wanted to know I'll be stuck here for another week without money and the rent will go up and I'll have a lot of debts and I'll be poor and I won't know what to do and-

"Why was he asking specially for you?"

Levy's eyes widened, as if I'd asked a very personal question. She almost seem offended I asked.

"It's nothing juicy, if that's what you think. He once called to the guild, but there was no one but me to answer. I helped him out once, and since he figured I was already involved in whatever he's doing over there I might help him out again. The master knows the whole story, I only know half, so we were the only ones able to help him. But I guess…he trusted you too?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he asked me to look for anything that could defeat a demon. I wanted to head to the library, but then Natsu interrupted…" I sighed. Levy nodded commiseratively. And as if we were speaking of the devil, I heard someone screaming my name. I turned away from the counter Levy and I sat at, and saw Natsu running towards the guildhall, with Happy hovering next to him, holding a paper.

"He's probably found another crazy request" I mumbled, already feeling the blisters under my feet. "If it's in the mountains again, I'm not going!"

"LUUUUUCYYYY!" Natsu screamed, as he ran towards the counter. Dust flew around him as he came to a halt. He basically pushed the paper in my face. "LOOK AT THIS! IT'S THE PERFECT JOB!"

"Natsu, cut it out! You're smothering me!"

I picked the paper from my face, at gave him an angry look. Like always, nothing seemed to be able to ruin his day as his grin was indestructible. "Just take a look!"

A little curious I glanced at the paper, quickly reading the request, the reward, the place…..the place?!

"W-Wizard resort Island Lux?!" I almost screamed the last few words, which made most of the guild members present turn their heads. Natsu nodded, crossing his arms proudly.

"I knew you'd like it. We'll be going like the old times! Team Natsu is back!"

"I heard they had the best roasted salmon there!" Happy said, throwing his arms in the air.

While those two idiots danced around, I read the entire paper again, since my mind seemed so occupied with the place. But my excitement died a little as I read what it was actually about. "P….pirates?!"

Natsu and Happy stopped their act, but it didn't ruin their party. "Yeah, so? We can take on a few idiots on a ship!"

"Can I read that, Lucy?" Levy asked, and I handed her the paper, feeling nerves all over my body. Pirates….but what kind of pirates? There were wizard pirates and thieving pirates. That makes a difference.

"Natsu, do you even know what you're saying?!" I said, but still his stupid grin wouldn't disappear. "You've got motion sickness, there's no way you'll beat them! Then I'll have to them on, and….oh dear…"

Happy landed on the counter next to me, shaking his head like he was more intelligent than he was. "Oh Lucy, you're not very smart, are you? The paper says the location is Lux Island, not the ship."

This blue cat was really getting on my nerve. "That's not the problem….!"

"Don't worry, Lucy!" Natsu said, as he jumped on top of one of the tables. "I've been training very hard for my fight with Gajeel, so I'm sure I'm strong enough to beat some amateurs!"

He took on a hero pose, and Happy whistled like his biggest fan. I shook my head, feeling the debts of my house building up once again.

"You're just talk, idiot" a voice suddenly said. Happy stopped whistling, but Natsu didn't drop his pose just yet. I turned my head to see who it was, but I didn't really have to. It was Gray, of course.

"Put on some pants!" someone from the other side of the hall shouted.

Gray looked down, seeing his boxers. "Dang it!"

"Oh yeah?!" Natsu said, jumping down again. "I'll beat those pirates the same way I'll make you bite the dust!"

Gray chuckled. "Oh yeah? I'll defeat those pirates just like I'll spill water on your flames!"

I shook my head. "Here they go again…."

Levy handed me back the paper, as the two boys rolled over the ground, stumping each other's faces like little kids. "This seems like a fine job. Most pirate gangs in that area are easy to beat, so you'll be fine."

I smiled. "Thanks, Levy."


	23. Chapter 23: Pretending not to be

**"You remind me of the babe" - David Bowie**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! :')**

 _Chapter 23: Pretending not to be_

 **Ary**

Floy was able to capture the Demon in his net made of magical threads and hold it down till Jake arrived. I'd only read about exorcisms, but I was sure I was a witness of one at that moment. I can't explain it, but I what I can conclude is that Jake might be the most promising wizard amongst us.

Of course, I took care of the wounded at the scene. And naturally I'm not the most experienced doctor, so I could only perform first aid. Meaning without magic.

When we arrived, I didn't know who needed my help the most. Lily was unconscious and her right arm lay in a weird position. Rose seemed to either be asleep or in a coma. Martin kept grabbing his leg and seemed to barf any second. Ibisan seemed to tremble on his feet, blood dripping down his face. Layton slid down with his back against the wall, panting heavily. Floy fell to his knees as soon as Jake had locked the Demon away.

But the one who seemed to be the most damaged, was Kai. He lay with his head against a pillar, blood dripping down the stone. According to the cracks he'd hit the thing hard.

When I kneeled down, I could see his entire face was as white as a sheet. I carefully grabbed his pulse. He felt cold.

"Oh no" I mumbled. As much as I found the whole boys' gang of our class annoying, I wouldn't want anyone to die. I cried when I heard the news of Greg's accident, and that he'd been taken to the hospital before I could help him. I had to swallow after hearing Ibisan's scared voice at the other side of the communication line. I pinched my arm hoping Floyd would succeed in destroying the Demon.

And now, I felt anger as I couldn't find Kai's pulse.

"Not on my watch" I whispered, as if he could hear me. "I won't allow it!"

I heard footsteps behind me. Gajeel.

He seemed concerned. An actual emotion on his face. He squatted down next to me, as I was grabbing one of the books I brought with me, looking for any kind of spell that would help him.

"Will he make it?" he asked. He didn't sound desperate, more like he was asking about the weather. I went from page to page, feeling panic rise.

"I'm trying, I'm trying…" I muttered, and even I could hear a sob in the back of my throat.

"Oh, shit" I heard Jake say. Apparently he understood how dire the situation here was. Gajeel stretched his legs, crossing his arms.

"Oh, damn" Jake said. Caroline, who'd run over to Ibisan, now also smelled the sorrow in the air.

"No way…"

Layton pushed himself off the ground, half crawling half walking towards Kai's body. "This can't be!"

All those voices around me made me even more nervous. It was all up to me now. I didn't want to tell them he'd already died. I wanted to make them believe I could still save him. Although I was sure I couldn't. I'd read this book I had in my hands three times already. There was nothing I could do.

Unless…

"I know what to do" I said out loud, as it hit me. I closed the book, and turned around to look at each and every one of them. "But you can't tell him about what I did."

I did something horrible. I sacrificed a lot to save the guy that once swapped my lunch bag with the insides of a trashcan.

"Oi, Ary." A voice interrupted my mind, making me look away from the window I'd been staring out of. It was three days later. Class B3C was going on their first ever school camp, destination Lux Island.

Gajeel literally didn't give us any time to recover. He'd basically told all of us, including Greg, who'd returned to the school the day before, to suck it up and pack our things because he 'wouldn't get any money back.' I don't think any of my classmates realized what that sentence meant.

Gajeel had invested his own money to pay for the trip. I thought he'd gotten a small budget from the school, but apparently he didn't. Which was why I agreed with him, and since I was now in charge of all the medical issues of B3C they had no choice but to come along.

We'd left early in the morning, heading off to the train which would take use to the haven. We would continue to travel by boat till we would reach the island.

"Ary…?" Kai asked again, waving his arm around.

"Y-yes?" I mumbled, still a bit lost. Kai frowned, but didn't comment.

"Would you like to sit with us?" he asked casually, pointing at the compartment next to where I was sitting in. There was laughter and shouting coming from there as about half of my class was cramped in there.

"Thanks, but I'm good" I said. I'd rather be alone right now, and especially not be around Kai. I couldn't look him in the eyes after what I did.

He sighed. "Come on, don't be so stiff. You're a hero, you shouldn't be so alone."

I shrugged. "That's ok."

Kai stood there for a while longer, on the doorstep. As the train made some turns he swung along, but he didn't look away. Eventually, he sighed again, stepping into the compartment. Nonchalantly he sat down at the other bench at the other side of me.

"I'm not just gonna let you be alone for the rest of the trip" he said. I had no idea where his sense of pity suddenly came from. Normally, I was just 'The Nerd'. The 'Loner'. Now I was a 'Hero'? If he only knew…

"How are you feeling?" I asked, since he was really persistent on the 'not leaving you alone'-part. He scratched the back of his head, where a huge scar was hidden under his hair. I tried to fix it up as nicely as possible.

"Pretty good actually. Very clean as well. Like myself, you know."

I nodded. "That's good. No more nightmares either?"

"Nope. Nada." He leaned back against the cushions, narrowing his eyes. "How about you? I guess nobody ever asks how you are, since you only take care of others. So I'll ask; how are you?"

I blinked, a little taken back. "Well, uhm. A bit tired, but not bad. That's all."

He rolled his eyes. "Damn, girls always have something to complain..."

I quickly recovered. "I'm just being honest. You asked, I answered. Hiding your feelings only ruins your mood."

"Girls are all about dem feelz" Kai mumbled. I glared at him, which would mostly make people immediately apologize. But this time, it made Kai smile. "Just kidding."

"Hilarious" I said. He was already annoying me. "Look, I understand if you feel like you have to be around me since I saved your life, but that doesn't mean we have to talk."

He grinned, and it almost carried something mysterious with it. "I know. Just tell me one thing; why?"

"Because you're annoying me."

He shook his head. "Not that. I mean; why did you save us? All of us? You don't even _like_ us. Just now, you again refused to sit with use and interact for once. You act like you hate us, like you only care about yourself." He paused to lean forward. I tried to avoid his look, but I knew I couldn't escape him now. "Then why did you go out of your way? To save some random prankster like me, who basically made your life a living hell? Just why?"

I didn't like these kinds of conversations, and did my upmost best to evade most of them. But I couldn't avoid or lie to Kai. Not after what I'd done to him.

"Because you guys are all that I have."

 **Lily**

I was still mad at Rose, but I didn't want to ruin our first ever trip, so I pretended not to know anything. Instead, we recalled the past by telling everyone about that time we headed into town and bumped into Gajeel, who has severe motion sickness.

"No way" Caroline said, as she rested her head on Ibisan's shoulder. Oh, that's right. They were a couple now.

Rose nodded. "I'm not joking! I found him, barfing all over the toilet, and he told me I couldn't tell anyone…."

"Oh, really?" Samdy chuckled. "Then you must be one hell of an idiot, because that's what you're doing right now!"

Sasha rolled her eyes, poking him in the arm. "Since when do you care about Gajeel's rep?"

"I bet he's secretly in love with him" Floyd said. "Five bucks."

"Ten if Gajeel feels the same way about him" Greg answered, and the twins burst out laughing.

"Ew, gross!" I said, but it still made me laugh. It was good to see the twins together again. Greg still seemed a bit weak, especially with that bandage above his right eye, but that didn't stop him from cracking jokes or pulling pranks.

"Where is Gajeel, anyway?" Sasha suddenly asked. The laughter died out.

"I dunno" I said. "Probably on the toilet, I guess."

"Or rather; hanging above it!" Greg dropped, resulting in a long 'OOOH' from the twins, which echoed throughout the train, I'm sure. I rolled with my eyes, giving Rose a look. She eyed back with a complotting grin.

"We can make sure of that" she said, playing with her hair.

"What do you mean, check every restroom to see if he's in there?" Samdy said, his face grossed.

Sasha shook her head. "No thanks. I have no intention of seeing vomit today."

"Yeah, let's keep it light hearted, ok?" Caroline added. Ibisan seemed more like a cushion to her, as he hadn't spoken throughout the trip so far. He seemed to have his head in the clouds, his eyes glassy and a grin around his mouth.

I shrugged. "Just a peek won't hurt. I think-"

"'Sup, punks?"

The door suddenly got slid open, and there our teacher stood. In perfect health, to be exact. He didn't seem bothered by the shaking of the wagons at all. I even tried to spot bits of vomit around his mouth, but there was none.

"What, lost yer mouth?" he continued when no one answered. All the heads turned to Rose, who seemed even more confused than any of us. "Get your stuff, we're almost there."

Just as casual as he'd appeared, he left, even whistling whilst he strolled onto the next compartment.

"How…?" Rose muttered. "I don't understand…."

Samdy stood up from his spot. "Maybe he'd just eaten something bad that day. Kind of a pity, though."

Sasha poked him again, which seemed to be their thing. "You're gross."

"But…Lily" Rose muttered again. I shrugged.

"I don't know. But it isn't the first time you lied."


	24. Chapter 24: Aboard! - part 1

**Yo!**

 **Yes, it is me, me is back. Kind of.**

 **Long story short; having some personal issues at the moment, hope to get back on track soon and keep the weekly uploads coming. Can't make any promises.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 24: Aboard!_

 **Layton**

I'd never been on a boat before. My parents couldn't even afford a car. I once got on a bus, but that was about it. I'll just leave it to the imagination what my reaction was once we got on the train.

All I could do was stare out the window, seeing the world flash by. I thought it looked as if someone smeared a napkin over a wet painting.

And now there was this boat. Or rather; a ship. Like an actual ship. From pirate movies and such. It was the oldest boat in the entire harbour, and the only one made entirely from wood. It had the greatest sails and a beautiful crow's nest with a huge binocular attached to it, as if meant to watch the stars at night.

The entire class was in awe. I wasn't the only one who'd never been on sea.

"Alright, punks" Gajeel barked, as he walked towards the front of the group. "From here on out, we'll be traveling by sea. We'll reach Lux in the morning. Any questions?"

He shouldn't have asked. There was always one person wanting to ask something. It's been like that from the start. There were several moans and rolled eyes when she rose her hand.

"Yes, Tilly?"

No one even bothered to turn around to look at her. All we wanted was to get on board.

"Well…who's going to steer the boat?"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?!"

Immediately, everyone lifted their heads. A high pitched scream pierced through our amazed and excited thoughts.

"What the hell was that?" Kai mumbled.

"I have no idea" I replied, searching around.

"WHO DARES TO SPEAK ILL OF MY SHIP?!" another voice sounded, a very low pitched one with a faint echo following. Tilly let out a soft cry.

"FEEL THE WRATH OF GRODON, KING OF THE SEAS!"

I snorted, feeling a little more at ease. "This isn't real. It's a prank."

Kai dropped his arms, which he'd lifted to protect himself. And Ary too, apparently. The smaller girl gave him a push sideways. "Get away, I can't see."

Kai didn't even seem to notice. He frowned. "But by who? The twins have no idea either."

Ary rolled her eyes. "They always say that."

"I….WILL….CRUSH YOUUUUU!" the voice continued, it's tune resonating through the ground all the way up to where we were standing.

I looked around again, hoping to see any signatures of Floyd and Greg. After knowing them for three years, you kinda learn to see through most of their schemes. Hell, I even joined in with many.

Then my eyes caught Gajeel. He had his arms crossed and looked rather irritated.

"I'm guessing he knows" I said. Kai followed where I was pointing at, and chuckled.

"Probably one of his weird friends" he mumbled.

Gajeel stepped towards the ship, rose his arm and let his fist come down in the wood. But right before his iron knuckles would hit the front, something flew through the air.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A sudden breeze pushed us back and blinded us for a minute. Dust spurred up and formed a mysterious cloak.

"What the hell was _that,_ then?" Kai asked. We waited for the mist to die down. None of us dared to step forwards to see for themselves. We knew better than that.

When the sight cleared, we found ourselves looking at a hilarious, yet questionable scene. Gajeel still stood there in front of the ship, his arm raised, ready to crush the front of the ship, but it was being held back by something. Or rather; someone.

The first thing I noticed was that his hair was blue. Next there was the fact that it was a guy, probably around Gajeel's age. It was a grown man.

This grown man had wrapped his arms and legs around Gajeel's arm and was begging him not to wreck his 'princess'.

"Gajeel, my man! You know how much I love 'er, doncha? Eh? Gajeel, buddy! Yah know, doncha? Didn't I invite you to the wedding, no? AAAAh, guess I forgot! Well, it happens, right? I swear, she's lovely. I'll introduce you right away! Did I ever tell yah how much I love your hair? How do you do that? It's so soft and healthy. Now that I think about it, you look great! Like, I've never seen you this pretty…badass, I mean. Of course. Men can't be pretty. Well, I mean, they can, if that's what you're into-"

"Can it, Rider" Gajeel responded, dropping his arm. The blue haired guy jumped off and landed smoothly on his feet. Now that he stood next to Gajeel, it was even weirder. The blue haired guy was about the same height as the dragon slayer, yet he was able to clung to one arm of the other.

The blue haired guy bowed, as a means of respect. "Yes sir-BWAH!"

"Yuck" I mumbled. Gajeel had slammed his fist on the blue haired guys bowed head, and basically slammed him into the ground. He moaned softly.

"Idiot" Gajeel only grumbled. Then, as if he'd forgotten, he turned to look at us. But he didn't seem ashamed or anything. He nodded towards the blue haired guy, who slowly pushed himself up. "Punks, meet our captain."

The blue haired guy lifted his head, his face full of small cuts. He grimaced. "I hate you…"

Gajeel picked up the blue haired guy by the neck of his top and 'helped' him onto his feet. The guy pushed Gajeel away from him and started patting the dust of his clothes. He wore wide trousers and a tank top, and no shoes. He looked like a crossover between a hippie and a pirate. I was guessing he was a pirate, since he apparently owned the ship.

He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Call me Rider. This right here-" He placed one hand on the ship "- is Princess Monica Columbi, also known as 'The Columbi'. Now, if I find any of you doin' anything to harm my princess, I will-BWAH!"

And then he was on the ground again. Or rather; IN the ground. Gajeel crossed his arms again, not even looking if his 'buddy' was seriously injured. "Put your stuff below deck. We'll set sail in about thirty minutes."

He didn't need to say that twice. We ran onto the ship like we were chased by a monster. I personally couldn't wait to see the view, or even the sea itself.

As I ran past Gajeel and the blue haired guy named Rider, I could hear the poor pirate mumble; "But I'm the captain-BWAH!"

 **Jake**

I'd never been on a boat before. Ship, I mean. Sorry.

We threw our stuff in a random room below deck and hurried over to the rail, with eyes set on the exit of the harbour. We stood there in a long row, eyes widened and ready for adventure.

"I wonder if we'll see any mermaids" Floyd said. Some agreed, where others, who'd probably been on a ship before, burst out laughing and pulled out money to 'bet on that'. I just assumed neither of the twins had ever opened a book.

But then again; our teacher was a dragon slayer. Who knew what more secrets this world held for us.

"Yo!" a voice sounded. We turned our heads to see our 'captain', Rider, standing at the steering wheel. His hair blew in the wind, which suddenly started getting more intense. It revealed his face, and also an eyepatch on where his right eye is supposed to be. He truly was a pirate. "Are you shrimps ready to sail?!"

The twins were the first to respond. They placed a hand horizontally above their eyebrow like a soldier's salute. "Yes sir!"

Rider frowned, looking at the two. He leaned over the steering wheel. "What the hell was that? Where do you think we are, eh? Tha fuckin' military? This is the sea, idiots! And I am your captain. Which means you speak to me like-"

"YES CAPTAIN!" a high pitched voice echoed over the deck. It was so sudden, no one knew where to look. Eventually, Ary stepped forward, her fist raised. Rider blinked for a second, stunned by the appearance of his first actual pirate on the ship. He cleared his throat, his one eye sparkling. The wind got a bit colder as he threw his head back and laughed.

"That's more like it, little one! Take notes, shrimps!"

That said, he started turning the wheel around. I quickly grabbed the rail as the ship turned with.

"Sails!" Rider said, more like a command. I frowned, thinking that I haven't seen any other pirates around yet. And I wasn't wrong.

Rider _was_ the only pirate on the ship. The ropes keeping the sails folded were loosened by invisible hands. The wind blew air into the white cotton, pushing the ship away from the quay. He steered the ship away from the harbour, with a grin on his face.

"Holy crap" I mumbled, staring at the blue haired man. Martin stepped away from the side of the ship for a second.

"What?"

I shook my head. "It's all him."

"What do you mean?" Kai asked, who seemed the least bit amazed by the ship and everything. For some reason, he kept glancing at Ary every now and then.

"He's doing all of it" I mumbled, nodding towards the pirate, who sang loudly. He swirled around the steering wheel, making turns on his toes.

"Yes" Ary said, who for some reason, smiled. I'd never seen her smile before. "He's an entire pirate crew alone."

"That's….insane" Martin stuttered. "How did Gajeel find this guy?"

I suddenly realized I hadn't seen Gajeel get on the ship. I quickly gazed around, hoping to find the large man standing somewhere in a corner, his arms crossed and his eyes staring into nothing in a grumpy manner. "More importantly; where is he?"

As if he'd been eavesdropping, the blue haired pirate answered. "Yo, my man Gajeel's makin' some calls. Just makin' sure the inn's all ready and all…Until then, you'll be in my hands!"

I turned away from the pirate, eyeing Martin. "I'm not sure I'm ok with that…"

"I heard that!" the voice of the pirate replied.

"How does he…?" Martin frowned. I smirked.

"It's the wind. Like I said; it's all him."

The sea was truly magnificent. It wasn't anything like the pictures in the books, or the paintings in the boy's dorm. It probably wasn't the most clean water of the world or even the prettiest of them all, but I didn't care. It was perfect for me.

"This smell is amazing" I mumbled out loud. It was salty, but fresh and clear. It filled my head with dreams and aspirations and cleansed me after all the troubles from past weekend. I'd never experienced something this. Not even the first time I experienced true magic can top this.

I took a quick glance around to make sure no one was seeing me standing there with my eyes closed, acting like a fool. Ever since the whole demon-thing, I'd received a status as 'Gajeel's right hand' in class. No complaints from my side, but it kinda felt like a burden. And now that he was absent, I also felt responsible.

Luckily, all the idiots were running around the deck, screaming and teasing like little kids. As if last weekend never happened. During the weeks of secrecy, I was often scared the group might not accept Kai ever again. That he would be an outcast for the rest of our schoolyears.

But there he was, fooling around with Floyd and Greg, the two most affected by the operation. Their friendship and stupidity hadn't changed at all.

I wondered if that would stay the same if Kai knew the truth. Than we would be the outcasts in his eyes.

"Yo!" the blue haired pirate suddenly said. When I looked up, I was the only one. The others kept on doing what they were doing, as if they didn't hear him, or were ignoring him.

"Oi!" Rider said again, and I looked up. He gestured I'd come up to the steering wheel. I looked around, but still no one but me responded. I even heard Rider sigh. "Yes, I am talking to you, and just you! Just come up here, will yah? I need you to do somethin'."


	25. Chapter 25: Aboard! - Part 2

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH NEW CHAPTER!**

 **Aaaaand the anime ended for two years...**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 25: Aboard! – part 2_

 **Martin**

I'd never been on a boat before.

That was the last thing I said to the boys I shared a room with before rushing to the railing and vomiting the meals of the last three days into the sea. During the day, I'd been totally fine. But as soon as my head hit the pillow at night, my stomach turned around.

Luckily, I made it in time. When all food had left my body, I felt as light as a feather. I leaned over the rail for a while longer, staring at the sea rushing by. The wind was less intense than during the day, but like Jake said; Rider was his own pirate crew. We were in his domain.

Gajeel must've really trusted this guy. Or he just didn't care if we'd end up drowning.

After a few minutes, I felt well enough to stand up. It was all a bit blurry before my eyes, but I soon adjusted. From the corner of my eyes, I could see a shadow standing behind the wheel. Rider had put on a triangle hat, as if he wanted to look even more like a pirate. When he noticed me, he raised on hand, as a greeting I supposed.

Suddenly, I noticed another figure standing on the deck. He stood not far from the pirate, and I recognized him immediately.

Jake.

It angered me to see him there. He raised his hand to wave at me, but I had already turned around to return to lower deck. He didn't even come after me. Dick.

Other than most of the people in our class besides the twins, Jake and I go way back. We used to be neighbours, for crying out loud. We used to tell each other everything.

Both our parents didn't quite understand our 'conditions'. My mother was scared of me and tried all kinds of pills to calm me down. She thought I was mentally disabled, or just psychotic. But I guess I was still better off than Jake. At least my mother tried to normalize me.

Jake's father just left him with his grandmother, who was too old to fully realize her grandson could sense darkness in people and make it disappear.

I met Jake in kindergarten, we were about five years old. The fact that both of us had special abilities created a bond. We didn't exactly know how to use these powers yet, but we could feel each other's 'aura'. We were about ten years old when we first realized we were special.

We'd gotten some money from Jake's grandmother to buy candy in the grocery store. We stood in line, when a masked man entered with a gun in his hand. He started shooting upwards, demanding all the stores money.

Jake and I hid behind a stall as the man robbed each and every cashier. He'd locked the doors so no police could come in. When he'd filled an entire sack with cash, he demanded even more. He took several hostages and said to kill one every minute the manager didn't hurry up.

We stayed out of view, and by this time I'd started to softly cry. Jake however seemed to be calm. Before I could stop him, he'd stepped away from the stall. The masked man turned around and pointed his gun at Jake. He commanded he'd come over, otherwise he'd shoot. Jake didn't move his feet, but instead raised his arm, his hand upwards and fingers spread. There was a shiver in the air around his hand, and next the robber dropped his gun and the sack, removed the mask from his face and ran out of the store, crying like a little girl.

After this incident, everything changed. Jake told me he'd found out about his power when his father came to visit him. His father started beating him, and out of nowhere, he stopped. Jake had only repeated one word in his mind: 'Stop. Stop. Stop.'

When the police got the security footage of the store, they'd called Jake in for questioning. They let him go after three hours, and the moment he returned home his grandmother decided it was time to move. Jake couldn't say goodbye.

When I saw him again three years ago, I was in shock. We'd ended up in the same school again. Right away, I'd hoped everything would go back to the time where we would spend nights discussing the strange things and people we'd seen that day, eat fast food, fool around with video games and such. But Jake had gotten more distant. He wouldn't tell me anything anymore, and so we grew apart. It was just video games, maybe some projects together, but nothing else. I got the feeling I told him more than he told me. I tried my best to keep our friendship living, while he kept stabbing it to death.

I felt betrayed when he got involved with the whole drama with Kai. There were a lot of things in which I could've supported him, but he left me standing by the side. And once again, he managed to get himself involved in something I couldn't be a part of.

This time with a pirate. What a dick.

I snuck back into the cabin and found my bed again. Right when I was about to fall asleep, a voice in the dark said 'hey'. Kai.

"You ok?"

I snorted. "For someone who's ignored by his supposedly best friend, I'm great."

Kai chuckled in the dark. "You jealous of Jake?"

"Not at all. But it wouldn't hurt if he'd just tell me a thing or two about what the hell he's doing all the time."

"You're fed up about that still? Don't get me wrong, but if we'd be telling the tale of a demon in the school to everyone things would've turned out even worse than they already did."

I turned around in my bed, pulling the blankets up to my chin. "I know that…but that's only one thing. He's doing stuff all on his own, not letting anyone help him…"

"Didn't expect you to be so sensitive."

"Shut up. You don't know a thing."

Kai kept quiet after that. I didn't mean to sneer at him like that, but he was really getting on my nerves. Yes, maybe I was too affected and maybe I was being childish and overdramatic. But I'd felt like an outcast for too long.

Kai took a deep breath, as if he was trying to keep his anger in. "Alright. Fair enough. Maybe I don't know a thing about the little friendship club you two used to have, but what I do know is that Jake is the most powerful wizard on this boat right now. During the whole demon operation, he's been studying all kinds of exorcism magic and dark magic. He might be on even levels with Gajeel if he tried. Ary has a map of this area we're now traveling through. There is a border between our land and Fiore's. Two oceans collide there, once we cross that border we'll be in magical territory. Rider probably knows of Jake's potential. He needs him to safely cross the line, and with Gajeel not being here at the moment, Jake is the only one who can do that.

You're right. I don't know a thing."

After that, we didn't speak anymore.

 **Samdy**

The first time I set foot on magic ground. I fell to my knees. I know, embarrassing. But it actually wasn't like that at all, because everyone was losing it.

Ary fainted, Martin vomited, Caroline got a headache which made her scream in pain, Lily went blind, Jake couldn't breathe, Ibisan didn't know who he was, the twins acted as if they were drunk, Layton started crying (yes, he did), Rose actually started to laugh psychotic, Tilly couldn't control her invisibility and disappeared an appeared over and over again and Sasha had a panic attack.

The only one besides the pirate who wasn't affected by the sudden amount of magic on Lux, was Kai.

Probably because he spend some of his childhood in this land.

Altogether it took us twenty minutes to recover. We were exhausted afterwards, even after having slept a whole night.

"Well, then" Rider sighed, as Ary finally opened her eyes again. "Welcome to Lux, punks."

Together with Kai, I helped Ary back on her feet. We stood on the quay, at the beginning of a busy boulevard. It seemed almost identical to the one we set sail from. Nothing magical about it.

"Doesn't seem very wizardy to me" I mumbled. Sasha, who stood next to me, snorted.

"Well, what did you expect? Pointy hats and broomsticks?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

All the ships harboured were ancient. Antique like the one we travelled with. It almost felt like we travelled back in time, or entered a museum. Including the life action role play actors, or whatever it's called. The mass of people strolling over the boulevard were so diversely dressed I couldn't really say what country or region we had landed in. Some wore fashion similar to ours, others wore kimonos, or robes, or even shining armour. Some even looked similar to Gajeel, including the big arms. I figured they must be dragon slayers too.

I even spotted one with a tattoo on his arm, which I figured must be the symbol for the guild he belonged to.

From the crowd, a black haired guy strolled over to us. Gajeel was dressed in the same grey trousers and boots, but wore a wide shirt, as if he didn't feel like being formal today.

A couple of the mages with the tattoos stared as Gajeel passed them. Their eyes flinched when they saw the Fairy Tail symbol on his arm.

"Yo, Gajeel, my man!" Rider shouted. Gajeel's eyes twitched a little at the sound of the pirate's voice. "See? They're alive and well-BWAH!"

Gajeel scratched the back of his head while dust swirled up from the spot Rider was slammed into the ground. "Get your stuff. We're leavin' for the inn."

"Hello to you too" I grumbled, while grabbing hold of my backpack. Compared to the old fashioned people we looked like the ultimate tourists.

Rider rose from the ground, blood streaming from his nose. "Gajeel, you bastard…."

"Thank you for bringing them here" Gajeel mumbled, before turning to look at us. Rider gulped so loud even we could hear it, and whispered a soft response.

Our teacher looked grumpy as always, but he seemed to have more trouble keeping his face blank. It was pretty funny to see. He was just as excited about this trip as we were.

"Let's go, shrimps!" he grumbled.

I chuckled. "Shrimps? How original…"

Gajeel started pacing and seemed to be in a hurry for some reason. "Follow."

I frowned. "That's all?"

Gajeel glared over his shoulder, but kept walking. The group followed him hesitantly. "Yes. Need more?"

I shrugged. "Normally, when we go on a trip, we have all these rules we need to follow. Don't touch this, don't do that. So what's the catch?"

Gajeel shook his head in an annoyed way. "There ain't. I trust you know what's good and bad."

I halted. We all actually did. We were one person almost.

When Gajeel noticed we weren't moving, he turned around. When he saw the smiles on most of our faces, he rolled his eyes. "Jeez, don't get all emotional about it! Just get your asses moving!"

I don't like to admit it, but this was the moment I knew I'd entered the next phase of my life. The first step had been Gajeel's arrival, and now he'd dragged us all the way here, to make wizards out of us.

I didn't often agree with his methods, but he sure knew how to make someone feel appreciated.

I felt someone touch my arm. Sasha poked me. Her eyes were watery. "You heard him. Get moving, bigmouth."

I grinned. "Hell yeah."

When we passed the group of the other guild, they stared at Gajeel's back angrily. Then their eyes found us, the pups. They looked like hungry wolves.

I looked straight at them, my eyes narrowed. I tried to look as arrogant as possible. Because this was the wizarding world, and I knew I belonged here. They had no right to treat us like that.

Rider suddenly ran past us, and hurried over to Gajeel. The men quickly analysed the pirate, and they whispered to one another. Rider seemed to be wanted as well. Gajeel didn't seem to be the least bit of worried about it.

And he trusted we wouldn't be either.


	26. Chapter 26: Collide of the Blondes

**Yay new chappy-choo!**

 **I just realized we're already halfway through this fanfic...crazy. I'm having much fun writing this, and I hope you like what I have in store for this story. From my perspective, the plans I have are pretty intense, and I still have loads and loads of ideas so I might consider doing a sequel. But let's first just see how far we get with his one :)**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 26: Collide of the blondes_

 **Sasha**

Ever since Caroline and Ibisan started dating, I'd been forced to hang around Samdy. With both our best friends being in a relationship together, we were both third wheeling.

But when Gajeel told us to pick a roommate, I somehow ended up with Caroline again. I hadn't really had a good conversation with her after everything that happened, and it was good to have some girl time again.

Gajeel's assignment was to put our stuff in our room in the inn, change into something easy to move around in and meet him outside again.

The inn seemed to have transported for the middle ages. All furniture was wooden, there were ancient paintings on the walls and no electricity. Only candles and those shiny marbles Gajeel calls 'lacrima'. Our rooms looked comfy, with warm colours and soft bedsheets.

Caroline and I threw our bags on the beds, at the same time claiming a place to sleep in. While we were sorting out an outfit together, we didn't talk much, but all of the sudden Caroline started asking weird questions. Like an interrogation almost.

"So what's going on between you and Samdy?"

I frowned, but avoided her judging eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well…you seem to have some kind of friendship going on now….so what's that all about?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's because you're always with his best friend." I held up a sport legging, in the hopes of changing the subject. "How about this one?"

She shook her head. "You know you can't lie to me, Sas. It's ok to like a boy…I mean, we're about that age now."

I snorted. "Oh, sure. I'm fifteen now, I'm ready to get married and have kids!"

Caroline laughed. "That's not what I meant. It's just…I'd love for you too to get together."

I picked up a shirt, looked at it, and then threw it on the 'no' pile. "So we can double date? Is that it?"

"What? No, no of course not!" Caroline tried on a purple shirt. "Both Ibi and I think you guys would look cute."

I finally made a decision and kicked my shoes out. "Ibi? Is that his nickname now?"

"Don't change the subject."

I sighed, pulling a wide shirt over my head. "We're just hanging out, that's all."

Caroline smiled, as if she'd finally gotten what she for. "So you do like him?"

She was really, really getting on my nerves. "So what if I did? It's not like he cares two shits about me."

Caroline shrugged. "You wouldn't know unless you told him."

I knotted a jumper around my hips, for when I might get cold later. "Not gonna happen. Ever."

I sat down on my bed, pulling my knees up. Caroline pursed her lips together. "I could do it for you?"

I shook my head. "No way. What is this, kindergarten? Look, we just happen to be a good team. Our abilities match in battle, and we can work together just fine. But that's it. Just let it go, alright?"

Caroline sat down on the other bed, pulling her blonde hair in a ponytail. "Ok. I will. But know what you're missing out on."

I chuckled. "Trust me, I know. An idiot following me around all day is enough for now."

I was sure my cheeks were burning up right now. I bowed my head, hoping my hair would somehow hide it. I somehow felt like there was a stranger in the room, instead of my best friend.

Sure, I loved hanging around Samdy. Every time he poked my shoulder to point at something funny he saw, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I hated him at the same time, for doing that to me.

I felt jealous whenever he looked at Lily, who was the beauty of our class. With her long dark hair and light eyes, her slim figure and crooked smile, she was almost a Disney princess. And she was also sweet, with her soft voice and her creative way of looking at things.

Then there was me. A loud, pathetic loser, addicted to anything sweet and not the least attractive with my big forehead. It didn't matter how hard I tried to hide it under my hair, it was unavoidable.

Samdy had no eyes for me in that way. I was just one of his pals, and that was how it would be forever. There was no point in telling him how I felt. I would just get hurt.

"I'm sorry" Caroline said, and I looked up. I almost forgot she was still in the room.

"What?" I said. She smiled with sad eyes.

"I'm sorry for bringing this up. I didn't mean to ruin this trip for you."

I shrugged. "That's alright. It's actually good we had this chat. Helped me realize a few things."

"R-really?"

I nodded. "Yup. About how nothing goes unnoticed by you."

Her smile disappeared. "Uh. Yeah. I can be pushy sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

She shut her eyes down. "Sorry."

I stood up from the bed, walking towards the door, so she couldn't see my face. "Just don't mention his name ever again, alright?"

I hoped she didn't hear the lump in my throat.

 **Lucy**

"Eh….Erza?"

"Yes?"

"Did you really need to bring this much?"

Erza gave the pile of clothing another push, in the hopes she would be able to close the closet. "You can never be too prepared for what's to come on a mission like this."

I looked at the blue dress spread out over her bed. "Let me guess…an unexpected party?"

Erza's eyes glimmered. "Of course! A woman must always be prepared for a sudden ball. Anything can happen on a magical island such as Lux!"

I sighed. "I think you're forgetting the real reason we're here…"

Erza apparently didn't hear me, as she continued on stuffing more of her property in the many cabinets in our room. We rented two in total, the boy's room being next door. I was almost expecting to hear some rumbling, but it was awfully quiet on the other side of the wall. I figured Natsu and Gray must've taken their rivalry outside. I just hoped they kept it just between the two of them, as I remembered a lot of strong guys being in town, one of them our potential target for this mission.

"Are you almost done?" I asked, looking at myself in the mirror, but talking to Erza. She held up a wooden vase which she took from home. Did she really need to bring this?

"Not yet! I can't seem to find the perfect spot for this art work…." she mumbled, placing it on the cabinet next to her bed, staring at it for a long time before removing it again.

We were supposed to be looking for some dangerous pirate gang out here, but at this rate we wouldn't even get by the inn.

"I think I'll just go on ahead" I said, walking past the rubbish. We were in here for only twenty minutes.

"Good thinking, Lucy" Erza mumbled, still stuck on the vase she called 'art'. I sighed, stepping into the hall. To make sure the boy's weren't still here, I knocked on the door next to ours. No response.

At this point I was praying they just stayed out of trouble. This was our first trip since The Tower of Heaven, and I think we all deserved an easy mission for once. One where it didn't involve anyone's troubled past. Erza may look alright, but who knew what was going on inside her head.

When I walked through the hall, I realized a mission like this may look like a replacement for the vacation we had planned for that time. I just hoped we could finish up here soon and enjoy the beach and the nice weather.

I heard footsteps coming my way, from the end of the hall. There was a crossroad to the many corridors, but I couldn't tell from which direction they came. Still a bit lost in thoughts, I kept walking.

"Wait! I think I forgot something!" I heard a voice from far away say. It was a young, girly voice.

Right when I was about to go around the corner, someone bumped into me. I fell back and heard a gasp from the other person.

"Oh my god! I'm so, so sorry!" the girly voice stuttered. I looked up, still a bit shaken. There stood a teenage girl, a few years younger than me, dressed in clothes I hadn't seen before. She held out her hand, as a gesture she wanted to help me on my feet again.

"That's alright!" I said, although my butt hurt. I dragged myself up and forced a smile. "Don't worry about it!"

The girl smiled nervously. "I'm sorry, but I'm in a real hurry. So, so sorry!"

I just smiled. "I said; don't worry about it."

The girl nodded. "Right. Sorry."

Then she ran past me, hurrying over to one of the doors in the long corridor. I felt a chill when she passed me, and frowned. Over my shoulder I watched her enter one of the rooms, trying to figure out what that meant.

She was a mage, no doubt about that. But she had a weird kind of magic around her. It wasn't dark, but something different. I couldn't place it.

According to the fact she spoke to someone before bumping into me there were other people around the corner. A little sneakily I took a peek.

The hall led to the entrance hall, in which a group of teenagers about the blonde girl's age stood, chattering loudly and laughing nervously. From what I could see, they looked like one group of friends. Maybe they were on a school trip or something.

The girl came back from her room, and I quickly acted 'natural' by walking as casual as possible over to the entrance of the inn. The girl ran past me, apologizing again. I waved it off, but she didn't see.

She joined her group, and one boy in particular was happy to see her.

When I approached the group even more, I felt the strange chills again. All these kids were mages, and all their magic was strange. I couldn't say who's presence was who's because it was so crowded, but I know there were a couple among them who seemed very dangerous.

"Alrighty, punks!" a deep voice suddenly sounded. I froze. A shiver went up and down my spine, before I ran back into the corridor. I peeked around the corner to see if I was correct.

Above the heads of the teenagers I could see the giant black hairdo he had, and a few of his eyebrow piercings. The teenagers all turned to look at him and seemed very obedient for some reason.

"In formation!" he said, and the teenagers quickly straightened their backs.

"Yes sir" some kid mumbled sarcastically.

I leaned with my back against the wall, in shock. Then, without thinking, I ran back to the room I shared with Erza.

I shut it behind me immediately. Erza peeked her head out from the bathroom, her hands in her red hair. "Lucy? I thought you were going on ahead…wait, what's wrong?"

I felt my lips shudder. "G-G-….."

Erza frowned. "Calm down. Is it Natsu and Gray? What did they do?"

I shook my head. "No…not them…it's…."

Erza grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "Spit it out. Who's here? Is it-"

"No" I interrupted her. I already knew who she was aiming for, but he died in the Tower of Heaven.

"It's…it's…." I gulped. "Gajeel. Gajeel is here. And he's building an army of children!"

Erza stared at me. Then she slowly nodded and placed one hand on her chin. With a flash she requipped from shorts and a tank top to her usual armour and skirt. "We must find Gray and Natsu. Now."


	27. Chapter 27: New Land, New Magic

**'Ermehgehd an army of children'**

 **That was basically the response I got and it had me dying laughing. I sometimes can't predict how the choices I make for the story work out. And working on five stories a week probably doesn't help either XD. Oh well I'll just take it as new wisdom.**

 **The chapter for this week is pretty awesome, if I may say so myself. Finally, there's a P.O.V. I've wanted to write from for sooooo long. I hope you like it! :D**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 27: New land, new magic_

 **Ibisan**

The people of Lux were weird. And they must've thought we were weird as well. We just wore our own stuff, and they couldn't handle it.

I had my arm around Caroline's shoulders as we followed Gajeel to wherever we were going. The fact that we had to wear a sporting outfit suggested we were doing some kind of exercise. I just hoped it involved magic, because I was sick and tired of all the secrecy.

Rider, the pirate, wasn't around anymore. He'd left while we were unpacking, without saying goodbye. Gajeel waved it off saying he had more important stuff to do than to hang around a bunch of kids. That seemed fair.

On the boat, ship I mean, the twins went exploring. They found lots of gold and other ancient goods below deck, which the pirate would probably use to trade for money or food or something.

Gajeel led us onto some kind of beach. Left was the sea, right a wall of rocks and shells. There was a soft breeze making sounds between the stones, but other than that it was totally quiet.

Gajeel turned to the group, his arms crossed. I wished I had those arms, I was sure Caroline would be fond of that as well.

"'Kay, punks. Listen up. Today, I want y'all to test out the flow of magic around this island. It goes a lot faster than where you come from, so be careful. Choose a partner to practice with, and only use spells you've used before and you're able to control. Don't go around hurtin' everybody, otherwise I won't get my money."

"Such sympathy" Samdy mumbled behind me, and I chuckled.

"Much carefulness" Sasha responded, which made me laugh even more. Gajeel jacked his head in my direction, his red pupils spitting fire.

"Somethin' funny?"

I felt Caroline freeze under my arm, and I quickly got a hold of myself. "No, I was just…you know."

Caroline rolled her eyes and shook my arm off her shoulders. "Great answer, you idiot."

"C'mere" Gajeel demanded. I glanced at Samdy, who shrugged.

"Try to hit me" Gajeel said when I stood in front of him. A gasp went through the group. My eyes widened.

"What the hell…?" was all I could say. Gajeel didn't flinch.

"Hit me. See if you can."

I frowned, slowly lifting one arm. I made a fist of my hand, but Gajeel stopped me.

"No, not an ordinary hit" he grumbled. "You're a transformation type, so transform and hit me with all you've got."

I took a few steps back. "No way. Even back home, my transformation was dangerous. If the magic here is really all that powerful, you'll-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Gajeel burst out laughing. He threw his head back and had to even hold his stomach not to fall over. He was really making fun of, and his laughter sounded weird. He didn't seem like a person capable of having fun. But it sounded like I'd just said the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

I locked eyes with Caroline, who shook her head in annoyance.

Gajeel seemed to finally get himself back together. Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, he straightened his back. Still with a grin on his face, he explained. "Look, Ibisan, you don't have to worry about me getting' all beaten up by the likes of you. I've been training my entire life to defeat a dragon. Some punk like you ain't nothing on me."

I heard Samdy laughing from somewhere in the back of the group, and some girly giggling. I was really making a fool out of myself. Caroline didn't seem very pleased with me, which was bothersome. I couldn't let Gajeel make me look back.

So I closed my eyes. "Alright, then. Get ready….or don't, if you can really handle it."

I heard a soft grumble in agreement coming from my teacher. "That's more like it."

Gathering my magic back home took about thirty seconds. On Lux, I didn't even have time to blink.

I felt the skin on my right arm heat up, and when I looked it had already transformed into a huge bear claw. I widened my eyes.

The fur was a lot thicker, the nails were stronger and longer and the paw itself looked more natural. I was truly transforming, instead of just growing hairs.

I folded my fingers into a fist, pulled back and launched forward, aiming for Gajeel's face. He grinned, before ducking and kicking my arm in a different direction with the heel of his boot. I fell forward in the sand, my fist slamming a small crater in the ground. My strength seemed to have improved in just a second.

"See, kids" Gajeel said, turning towards the group, "be careful with your spells here. They might cause you to bite the dust. Or sand, in this case."

Some chuckling went through the group as I got back on my feet. Staring at my arm, I watched how it slowly turned back into my usual human arm. I now had not only the arm of a bear, but also the strength of one.

"Now, pair up!" Gajeel barked, and quickly everyone found their partner. In the chaos, Caroline gave me a wink, while walking over to Sasha. I grinned, feeling as happy as ever.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Samdy. "Nice job, man."

I looked at my human hands. "That wasn't just me, man. It's the magic here…"

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You're hella strong. Which means I won't have to hold back."

I glared at him. "Are you challenging me?"

Samdy grinned. "Maybe. You in?"

I crossed my arms, took a deep breath, and separated them again. Both of them were now claws of a bear. "Come at me, bro."

Samdy picked up a shell from the waterside, and let it spin around in his hand. Within a second, he'd turned it into a Frisbee. He frowned at the sharp edges, as if that wasn't his intention at all.

"What the hell did you do?" I chuckled.

He looked at me with confusion. "That wasn't just me, man."

I narrowed my eyes at the imitation of my voice. "Funny. Just hit me already."

Samdy took a few steps back, leaned back with his arm and started running forward, throwing the huge weapon at me. I jumped up, catching it with both my claws. The shell kept spinning in the palms of my claws, and I even slid back in the sand with my feet, causing hills in the beach as I halted.

Samdy had already picked up another shell, a longer one this time. He turned it into a sword, decorated completely in the fashion of the beach.

I grunted. "All stylish, are we? You shouldn't hang around girls all the time."

Samdy ran towards me, dragging the huge sword with him. "Says the one being commanded by his girlfriend all the time."

He lunged forward, the sword coming down above my head. Without even trying, my back turned into the shield of a turtle. I cried out, because it was so sudden.

"What? What?" Samdy said, a little shaken by my sudden reaction.

But I wasn't hurt. Not at all. It was the power. There was so much of it. And it felt hella great.

 **Natsu**

I smelled him. That iron bastard. He smelled like…well, iron, of course.

There were a lot of other smelly ones around. Younger, I assumed. They were hanging around Gajeel like a pack of cute puppies. Scary cute puppies.

"I think he kidnapped them" I said out loud. Happy nodded in agreement.

"I think so too. Those poor kids must be so scared."

Erza appeared next to us, holding a sword in one hand. "Don't jump to any conclusions. According to Lucy, they didn't seem to be afraid."

I glared over my shoulder to our blonde friend, who was following behind with Gray. "But you were the one who said that Iron idiot was creating an army to attack the guild!"

Lucy smiled and scratched the back of her head. "Well….maybe I was overreacting a bit…"

"A bit?!" Gray spat. "There's a huge difference between an army and a kidnapping!"

"Gray! Put some clothes on!"

"Damnit!"

We kept running, reaching the boulevard next to the beach. The smell got stronger and stronger the more we neared the sea. I made a few shortcuts, and I didn't really care if the others couldn't follow. It might be better if Lucy didn't see what I was about to do to that Iron bastard.

"Natsu?" Happy's voice sounded above me.

"Hm?"

The blue cat hesitated. "I don't think Gajeel is creating an army."

I chuckled. "Me neither. He's just working on that job he stole from Lucy."

Happy halted, but I didn't wait for him. Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed we'd already lost the others. Good.

"Then why are we going after him?" Happy asked, while catching up to me again. I grinned, feeling fire in my stomach.

"Because I'm gonna kick his ass, that's why!"

Happy's eyes widened, before he threw his fist in the air and shouted: "Aye sir!"

We went around a corner, where I could see the entrance to the beach. The smell was getting stronger and stronger.

I didn't hesitate. Being this close, Gajeel must've smelled me out by now too. Couldn't waste any time here.

I sprinted towards the sand, evading a near cart and jumping over a couple of street artists. Happy flew over, a little less excited than before. He still thought Gajeel was scary.

I grinned. But that was all going to change once I was done with him.

Sand swirled up around me as I planted my feet back on the ground. Several different smells came to me as I stood there. The weird ones from before where here too.

A few feet away from me stood a couple of teens, the weird smelly ones. They seemed to be practicing their weird smelling magic. When they noticed me, they quickly dropped their stance. The other pairs stopped as well to glare at me in suspicion.

"Oi" I said, my voice echoing over the empty beach. "Where's the Iron bastard?"

The boys and girls all looked at each other, frowning and talking silently. I took a few steps towards one of the guys, and felt Happy flying over my shoulder.

"His smell is gone" I mumbled to him.

"Whaaaaat?!"

I sniffed again. "He covered it up somehow."

Happy pulled his ears down with his paws. "Oh, not good, not good!"

I grabbed one of the teens by his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm guessing this weird smelling bastard can tell us where he's hiding."

The boy turned around, and seemed awfully calm compared to the others. None of them seemed particularly scared or hurt in any way. None of them had tried to escape yet, which could mean it was all a trap.

But at that time, all I could think of was beat up Gajeel's pathetic face.

"Natsu, right?" the boy said.

I frowned. "How do you know my name?"

The boy shrugged. "I recognized your voice from the lacrima. And you must be Happy?"

I let go of him, narrowing my eyes. "What is going on here? Where is he?"

The boy glanced over his shoulder to the person he was practicing with. "He's just getting us some drinks."

Suddenly, the image of Gajeel dressed in a maiden's outfit and a handful of water bottles flashed before my eyes. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground laughing my ass off.

"Gajeel….that iron bastard….being motherly….ahahahaha!"

I rolled around the sand, while the teens just looked at one another in confusion. They just didn't know Gajeel like I did.

Wiping a tear from my eye I was able to sit up. I took a deep breath, before talking again. "But seriously, where is he?"

From the other side of a sand hill, a shadow suddenly appeared. His red irises flashed by the sight of me talking to his disciples.

He stomped forward, shoving the drinks he carried into the arms of the nearest student. "Salamander!" He stretched his shoulders, cracked his knuckles and glared at me. "What the hell are you doin' here?"

I grinned. "I'm here to kick your ass."

Gajeel leaned forward, spreading his feet apart, taking a fighting stance. "Come at me, then."


	28. Chapter 28: Iron versus Fire

**Hi how you doin'**

 **Yay another chapter, and I feel proud to say next week's chapter is also almost done. We're getting there.**

 **(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 28: Iron versus Fire_

 **Caroline**

The first impact was the biggest. Their fists collided and caused a massive shift in the air. I was blown back and fell on top of Sasha.

I heard Ibisan call my name, and next he was dragging me onto my feet. "Are you alright?"

I took his hand in mine and squeezed softly. "Yeah. What happened?"

Suddenly, a loud growl arose. "IRON ROD!"

From the swirling sand an iron tube appeared, slamming in the direction of where the pink haired guy just stood. We heard a thud as he was pushed back. Above the mist the sand had caused, we could see the pink haired guy jump up. He landed onto the 'Iron Rod', which was part of Gajeel's arm. Or more like it was his arm. It had turned into iron completely.

The pink haired guy started sprinting towards the shoulder, kicking Gajeel flat in the face. Our teacher was shoved back a few steps, and his iron arm disappeared. The pink haired guy jumped back a few feet, grinning.

"I'm all fired up now" he mumbled, which sounded like a cheesy catch phrase.

Gajeel rubbed the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, wiping a few drops of blood away. His eyes were caught up in concentration. He didn't look away from the pink haired even once.

"Punks" he growled. We all stared at our teacher, who seemed to have fun instead of being scared. "Stay back. This will be over soon."

A chuckle arose from the pink haired guy. "Oh yeah it will. We'll settle this once and for all."

Of course, at that moment, the bigmouth of our group (not Samdy, the other one) felt the need to speak up. Tilly worked her way to the front of the group. "Why are you doing this?"

The pink haired guy frowned, and for a second confusion crossed his face. "Because he's a pain in the ass!"

Tilly blinked in confusion at the rude language. I locked eyes with Sasha, who shrugged. From what I remembered the pink haired guy was the same guy as the one who talked with Gajeel through the lacrima, and threatened him. Why was he here?

The pink haired guy slammed his fists together, and suddenly fire appeared all over his arms. I gasped and instinctively took a step back, bumping into Ibisan. "What the hell is that?"

Ary was the one to answer my rhetorical question. "Magic, of course. That 'Salamander', as Gajeel likes to call him, is the fire dragon slayer."

"How do you know?" Kai asked, taking a step forward, as if shielding Ary from something. She turned her back on him while rolling her eyes, turning to the group.

"The first time we ever met Gajeel, he said there were other dragon slayers than just him, right? My guess this is the fire one." She glanced over her shoulder, where Gajeel was pinning the Salamander to the ground. He wasn't winning just yet, it seemed more like a tie.

A frown appeared on Ary's face, which worried me. She was the smartest of our class, which always annoyed me because I worked just as hard. But when there was something not right in her eyes it was a sign something was going horribly wrong.

"What is it?" I asked, pushing myself further against Ibisan's chest. Ary looked across the beach, then above her.

"The blue cat" she said calmly, placing a hand above her eyes to look into the sun. "Where is he?"

I closed my eyes, gathering my magic to my irises. Soon I could see every vain and every dust part. I noticed a small presence behind a rock not far away from where we were standing. I opened my mouth to call him out, but got pulled out of concentration by Gajeel blasting the pink haired guy into the wall of stone. Giant blocks flew all around. Kai, Layton and Ibisan jumped forward, slamming the rocks in a different direction, away from us.

"Damn it, be careful" Samdy shouted. Gajeel glared over his shoulder for a second, as if he was suddenly reminded we were still around. He locked eyes with Lily.

"Throw a shield. Now!"

Lily jumped up and looked pretty helpless. Then she closed her eyes, spread her arms, and I felt a soft breeze. We were surrounded by a huge water bubble. It looked fragile, but it was strong enough to protect us from the magic blasts and flying rocks. Lily herself seemed the most surprised of her power. When all heads turned to her in awe, she shrugged nervously. "I don't know for how long it will last…"

I turned towards the rock again, where the presence of the blue cat was just hiding. The rock got caught in the bubble with us, so he had no chance of escaping. "Come on out now!"

I heard a high pitched gasp. Then slowly, two blue ears appeared. The cat was very small, and had a big head compared to his body. On his back he wore a green backpack.

He was shaking, as if he was nervous. He walked on two paws instead of four, which was kind of creepy because he looked more human than cat-like.

He scratched behind one ear. "Hello."

We stood there in silence for a while, letting the fact that there was a blue cat standing on two feet talking to us in a super adorable high pitched voice.

I kneeled down, trying to look friendly. "Hi. I'm Caroline. What's your name?"

The blue cat blushed, his cheeks turning dark blue. "Happy. Are you in Gajeel's army?"

I frowned, locking eyes with a few of my classmates. "No…we're his students. Gajeel is our teacher, and we're on a school trip."

The blue cat looked around the group, while not far away from us the pink haired guy seemed to get the upper hand in the battle. "Teacher? Are you sure?"

"Of course we're sure" Samdy mumbled, beginning to lose his patience. Gajeel stomped the pink haired guy in the stomach, the pink haired guy made flames come out of his mouth. Almost like a real fire dragon. "What's up with your friend beating up out teacher?"

Happy smiled. "They're just fighting. The master says they can't fight at the guild because they're both part of the same one now, and when they fight they cause a lot of damage to the city….but now that we run into him here they can do whatever they want!"

He answered as if he was telling us a beautiful fairy tale, which made it very, very creepy. His eyes turned towards the sea, where the waves hit the shore calmly. I thought I saw a drool dripping from his mouth.

"Hey" I said, waving my hand before his eyes. The blue cat shook his head.

"Eh?" was all he said. Behind us, the two dragon slayers threw each other through the air, shouting their attacks out loud and pretty much destroying the beach. The twins stepped forward to help Lily strengthen the bubble, while Jake was analysing the battle.

"They're not gonna kill each other, right?" I asked, knowing this was what everyone was wondering. Happy's eyes widened for a moment, for as far as that was possible because they were large to begin with. "No. Of course not. Natsu doesn't hate Gajeel _that_ much….although he did hurt Lucy a lot….and destroyed the guild once….and he's very mean….so maybe?"

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?!" Samdy growled, stepping towards the blue cat. I saw Sasha take hold of his arm, as if she was scared Samdy might attack the poor cat. But Happy seemed not even the least impressed by Sam's behaviour.

"Natsu wouldn't kill Gajeel" someone other than Happy answered. All heads turned to Jake, who stood near the bubble, almost touching it with his nose. He wanted to see the battle up close. "It's just dragon slayers being stubborn. They both love a fight." Jake glanced over his shoulder to the group, while pointing at the pink haired guy. "Look. He's smiling. And look at Gajeel. He's having fun. Nothing to worry about."

Although Gajeel's 'smile' was more a grimace, Jake was right. He had scratches all over his body, his nose was probably broken, and blood was coming from his mouth, but he didn't seem to feel any pain. His eyes were spitting fire, an adrenaline rush seemed to keep him from falling down right now.

The pink haired guy, Natsu, was smiling all the way through. Just like Gajeel, he had sharp teeth like a snake's, and all were shone as he launched punch after punch. When thrown back by his opponent, he growled in surprise and quickly thought of a response. There was a cut above his eye and blood dripped down his cheek, but he didn't stop to wipe it away.

"It's like watching two dragons" Jake mumbled, and he was right for sure. For some reason, a smile appeared on my face. This was our teacher we were talking about. Gajeel, a dragon slayer.

Needless to say, I felt proud.

"Oh!" the blue cat suddenly cried. His tail swirled upwards and his fur rippled. His eyes spoke nothing but fear.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling just as scared as the cat. Happy grabbed both his ears with his tiny paws and stared into the ground.

"She….she's coming!"

 **Erza**

"Was that Natsu?" Lucy asked as another wave of sand was blown into the air. I smirked.

"Who else? Let's hurry."

Gray caught up to my speed, and was still shirtless. At least he got his pants still on. "That idiot. Why couldn't he just wait?"

We ran over the market, evading carts and people alike.

"Natsu and waiting. I thought you knew him better, Gray." I fastened my pace. "I'm going on ahead."

I launched myself above the houses, hearing Lucy shout after me. But I had to.

Lux was quite a crowded and popular island. Wizards go there to relax and have a drink. If Natsu were to cause damage here, it would cost the guild a lot. And master Makarov wouldn't be happy with us.

"Damnit, Natsu" I mumbled, taking another leap. "You just don't know when to quit."

I neared the beach, where I was immediately covered in sand. The two dragon slayers managed to keep their fight on the small beach and not the town. Natsu wanted to move it somewhere else, while Gajeel was more reluctant. Every time Natu tried to throw him towards the boulevard, he found his way back to the sand.

Not far away from where the battle was taking place, a magic sphere was placed, with a bunch of teens in there. I saw a small tail moving around between them.

"Happy…" I took a deep breath, repositioning my hand around my sword. I lunged forward, aiming between the two dragon slayers. Right as they were about to clash again, I requipped into my newest armour; Schmetterling Armour. It has two giant shields at both shoulders, almost like wings. It is also covered in a nice pink with green pattern, which is quite fashionable. I liked this armour.

There was a loud thud as the two idiots slammed into the shields, head first. They fell down on the sand, not yet unconscious, but a bit dizzy. Good.

I requipped into my usual comfy armour. With one hand I grabbed Natsu by his hair, pulling him upwards. His eyes rolled around, but when he caught sight of me, he was suddenly very awake.

"E-Erza! Hi. How's it going?"

I glared at him, which silenced him in a second. Gajeel sat up, scratching the back of his head.

I threw Natsu back on the ground and aimed my sword at the iron dragon slayer. He looked up at the pointy end and seemed annoyed.

"That's not necessary, you know" he grumbled. I stared at him.

"Mind telling me what the hell is going on here?"


	29. Chapter 29: Fairy Teaching

**Today, I legit saw snow. It's April. Thanks, man.**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 29: Fairy Teaching_

 **Tilly**

The whole thing on the beach seemed like a blur. First, we got a lady knight coming in and embarrassing two dragon slayers at once. Next, we got this superhot guy running up the beach, who makes all the girls drool. Then, this supermodel kind of blonde appears as well, who then had all the guys drooling, including Ibisan, who then got a smack on the cheek from Caroline.

Gajeel being Gajeel, he quickly explained what he was doing here, and with every word the blonde girl, which Happy seemed to call 'Lucy', seemed to redden in embarrassment. When Gajeel ended his story, the red haired knight turned to glare at Lucy, who quickly bowed her head.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" she cried out. "Forgive me, please!"

As we were still under the shield, we could only stay in one spot. Which meant the guys took on all kinds of poses to get a 'better view' of Lucy as she bowed down.

The red knight sighed and sheeted her sword. "No matter. We all make mistakes. And I personally do not blame you for thinking these kids are strange." She turned towards the sphere, one gloved hand on her chin. "They do have a weird aura."

That wasn't really a nice thing to say. From the corner of my eye I could see Gajeel flinch as well. He crawled onto his feet and started stretching his shoulders, his muscles and bones cracking loudly. "Who cares? I personally do blame you guys for interrupting my lesson, so-" He stopped talking midsentence as he was interrupted by laughter coming from Natsu, the pink haired guy. He rolled around the sand holding his belly like he'd seen something hilarious. Gajeel's eyes spit fire when he looked at him. "What's so funny, Salamander?"

Natsu stomped his fist on the ground and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. His mouth was still caught in a grin as he spoke. "That. Coming from you. That's funny."

Gajeel's gloved hands formed iron fists as he lunged forward at Natsu. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Natsu rose to his feet again.

"Lily!" Gajeel barked, and we all jumped up. "Keep the shield up!"

"Y-yes" Lily stuttered, raising her arms again. I gulped. Apparently, the fight wasn't over just yet. We all stepped backwards, away from the edge of the sphere. I saw how Gajeel's hands were shaking. But before he could deliver another punch at our teacher's face, Erza slipped between the two dragon slayers, pushing them away from one another. I quietly thanked her for that.

"They just don't know when to quit…" the dark haired pretty boy sighed. I had to blink a couple times, because it seemed every time I looked at him, another piece of clothing went missing. Apparently, Lucy saw it too and tapped him on his shoulder. The guy looked down at himself, and gasped in shock.

"What he's trying to say" Erza said, as she gently pushed Gajeel away from Natsu, "is that he appreciates the way you've changed. So do I."

"And I do too!" Lucy said, looking up again. Gajeel looked at the blonde girl, and just for a moment, his eyes widened in surprise. Lucy smiled at him.

I smiled a little. Apparently, our teacher had no idea how good he was doing. I thought back to the time I accidently overheard a conversation between him and Headmaster Kubo. He'd smelled me out right away, but didn't involve me. Instead, he'd called me back after class.

" _What you heard the other night…" he started, staring me blankly in the eyes. I already started apologizing for eavesdropping, but he stopped me. "I don't care how sorry you are. Just know that the whole thing about the guild….it's just cover up."_

" _What?" I'd gasped, feeling a bit relieved. I didn't know why I cared so much, but just the thought of him being a bad guy made me really uncomfortable. The image I'd created of the badass Gajeel was in danger. It was about to be shattered by his 'evil' plans, and I just couldn't bare it._

 _He'd sighed. "Just don't overthink it. Know that I'm not the villain in this situation."_

Who the actual villain in the story was he didn't say, but I'd gotten some candidates in mind already.

Watching him then as he was caught by surprise by the support he was getting from the guild members, I felt proud. He was the hero of the story for sure.

Natsu scratched the back of his head and dropped his stance. "Whatever."

Gajeel looked away from Lucy, but didn't respond to Natsu. Instead, he glanced over at us. With a less aggressive voice, he said: "It's ok now. Drop the shield."

Lily nodded, and breathed out. The blurriness of the bubble disappeared, and she fell to her knees. Layton and Rose hurried over, concern on their faces. Lily waved them off by saying she just used up a bit too much magic.

All the while, I could only stare at Gajeel. He glared at Natsu, before walking over to us. He nodded at Lily. "Good job keeping that up. Greg, Floyd, same goes for you."

The twins high fived, Lily blushed and mumbled a soft 'thank you'. Ary approached Gajeel with a pouch in her hands, and like always, the self-proclaimed body guard Kai followed her.

"How's your nose?" Ary asked, already going through her pouch to find something to heal with.

"Nothin' serious, it'll heal itself" Gajeel grumbled. Ary nodded.

A few feet behind Gajeel stood the red haired knight. Her face was caught in something which I assumed was a mixture of pride and sentiment. She'd probably only seen Gajeel as the villain of the story.

"Tilly" Gajeel mumbled softly when Ary and Kai walked over to Lily's. He apparently caught me staring at the new wizards.

"Hm?" was all I said. He glanced over at the red knight and the others, before looking back at me.

"Don't say a thing."

 **Gray**

"Gray?"

"What?"

"I think they're drooling."

Lucy pointed at a group of girls standing not far away from us. Almost directly next to them stood a group of boys, who were only staring at Lucy. "So do the they."

"Yuck" Lucy mumbled, covering herself with her arms. Like that would help.

I strolled over to Erza, who still stood in front of Natsu. A smile played around her mouth as she was watching Gajeel's pupils.

"I hate to spoil things," I started when I stood next to her. She nodded.

"Yes, the mission."

"No, not that" I said. Always the mission. Can't think of anything else, can she? "More like 'what are we gonna do about this?' We can't keep standing around forever."

Erza sighed. "Ah, yes. I had this idea, which I think you'll like as well."

Erza and ideas. That can't be good.

Oh, there it goes. She already had her sword pulled. "What are you planning, exactly?"

From where I was standing, I could see the sparkles in her brown eyes. Just like that time in the theatre, when she'd found her 'new passion', but actually was terrified to go on stage and play the part of the prince.

"Gajeel!" she said, her voice echoing majestically over the beach. The teens quickly stopped chatting with each other, and even stopped drooling. Gajeel just turned his head with a sofht 'Hn?'

"I have a request" Erza continued. One of Gajeel's eyebrows rose slightly. He stepped away from his pupils, putting himself between Erza and the group.

"What do you want?" he barked, crossing his arms. Natsu was suddenly interested as well, and I just grunted. He could never keep his cool.

Erza's eyes sparkled again. "I'd like to see how these kids are doing."

"Kids?" one of the boys mumbled. "We're only a few years younger than you…"

I saw Erza's cheeks redden, but she tried her best to ignore that remark. I grinned behind my hand, as she clearly didn't earn the respect these kids were giving Gajeel already.

The man himself stared at Erza with annoyance. With one tiny word, he shattered all the sparkles. "No."

Right away, a sigh of disappointment went through the group of pupils. I didn't know if it was because they wouldn't fight real wizards, or because they didn't get to fight me and Lucy. According to their drooling, that was a difference.

Gajeel turned to the group and mumbled some things to them, but it didn't seem to change their minds.

"I think I get it now" Lucy suddenly said, while staring at the group with a smile.

"Get what?" Natsu muttered, still pissed he couldn't continue his fight. Jeez, grow up.

"They've never seen a real mage, besides Gajeel" she said. I nodded in agreement.

"Yet they didn't seem eager to meet us before, though" I pointed out. After the fight was over and the explaining was done, they all stayed swarming around their teacher. Only a few glanced at us in excitement (and drooled) but none were really all that interested.

"Well, that could be because a _certain someone"_ (Natsu giggled nervously) "wrecked our reputation right away by battling their teacher" Erza said, sheathing her sword again. It was true. Natsu had a talent for ruining our image right away.

"But they still want to train with us," I said, pointing at Gajeel, who turned around to face us again. And he did not look happy.

"Fine, then" he said softly, just loud enough for us to hear it. The group started cheering and handing out high fives. "But just know I'm not responsible for your injuries."

I shook my head at the sparkles in Erza's eyes again.

"We won't hurt them" she shouted, raising one hand up in the air. "I promise that."

Gajeel just responded with an 'ugh', and then let his pupils pass him. They ran up to us like they were our biggest fans, while their teacher decided to sit down by the side line. He acted as if he didn't care, but I could see he didn't like this idea at all. But then again; these kids needed to see different kind of mages than just each other.

I really didn't feel like beating these kids up, but I could teach them a thing or two. Erza desperately tried to get a hold of the group by saying she'd assign everyone to a different mage present. But there were people who had preferences (for some reason both Lucy and me were highly requested), which was troublesome.

I ended up with a group of three girls and one guy. The three girls kept jabbering with each other and giggling, while the guy moved around awkwardly.

"So, uh" I started. The girls looked up for a second, then continued giggling. "Let's just introduce ourselves first. My name is Gray. I use ice maker magic." The girls giggled again, and I heard my name being spoken several times.

The boy stepped forward. "Hi, uh. My name is Martin. I use wind magic. Well, I think I do."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're not sure?"

Martin bowed his head. "No, not yet. I hope to find that out here."

I nodded slowly. "Alright, we'll –"

Just as I was thinking it went well, a loud bang sounded and sand swirled up. Apparently Erza had already started with her group.

"Oi!" Gajeel shouted, standing up. When the sand wave died down again, one of the pupils stood there unharmed, a slingshot in his hand.

"I'm good!" he said to Gajeel, who grumbled something before sitting down again. It would only be a matter of time before he'd jump in, so it seemed. Gajeel leaned with his chin on his hand, his fingers tapping on his face nervously. It was strange to see him like that. Truth be told, I didn't know him all that well at the time.

But whatever had happened in the other land with these pupils, it changed him forever. In a good way.

I think it's even fair to say that to these teens, Gajeel became the person Ur was to me.


	30. Chapter 30: Fairy Dinner

**Eeey new chapter, exciting! And also a chapter that (hopefully) clears some things up from earlier in the story...**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 30: Fairy dinner_

 **Kai**

I don't know why we ever thought it was a good idea to fight trained mages. We looked ridiculous when trying to plant punches at these super ripped, powerful and experienced wizards. I got the (dis)pleasure of fighting Natsu, the fire dragon slayer. Despite the enormous amount of magic the demon had left me with, I wasn't able to even scratch him. He, on the other hand, pretty much knocked me out. Gajeel was absolutely furious and it almost looked like he was going to fight Natsu again, but Erza interfered, saying it was just training (meaning if this was for real I'd be dead. Thanks, Erza)

After beating us up, the mages of Fairy Tail invited us to dine with them (super awesome). Gajeel first refused, but when Erza offered to pay for everything from her own pocket, he changed his mind. But he warned that if he caught anyone drinking, he'd put them on ship straight back home. I assumed he meant Rider's boat, which I wouldn't mind. The ship was awesome. But Fairy Tail was definitely awesome-er.

Anyway, dinner. We met up at this fancy restaurant in town near the harbour, everyone dressed up all nicely. I think me and Layton were the only ones who didn't get the memo.

"Did I miss the meeting?" I chuckled, when Samdy rolled up the sleeves of his blouse. All the guys in fancy shirts, the girls in dresses.

Layton just shrugged. "Guess we're the only ones who get to spill."

The mages had reserved a long table in a backroom of the restaurant. I figured Erza did that to prevent the other guests from the displeasure of teenagers in a restaurant (I think we can all agree we're the worst customers), but it was actually the other way around. The mages turned out to be the loudest eaters I'd ever met. Well, Natsu, that is. It wouldn't surprise me if Gajeel was like that as well. He is a dragon slayer after all, but he seemed to hold back for some reason. He sat the farthest away from Natsu, taking tiny sips of his drink and chewing awfully long on his food. He seemed to watch everyone's move, not missing a thing. I wondered if it was because of us, or to keep up his reputation as that cold hearted macho or something.

As soon as we neared the table, Greg and Floyd ran forward to get the best spots next to Lucy. The entire night, every time Lucy even breathed, they sighed dramatically. It was absolutely ridiculous to watch.

I'd found myself a spot next to Ary. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"When aren't you dropping this whole 'guardian' act? It's getting absurd."

I shrugged, ignoring the many sighs that went through the group. Everyone seemed to think I was being stupid, but I thought they just didn't understand. Of course, everyone has their own demons to fight, but no one literally had one inside of them.

"As long as I see fit" I answered, and Ary grunted in annoyance. Erza, who sat near us, frowned.

"What's wrong with protecting your friends?"

I nodded in agreement, although she probably had no idea why I was guarding Ary. She could at least appreciate the effort I put into it. The comment of the red haired knight made Ary blush somehow.

"But I never asked for it" she said eventually. "The whole 'protecting' thing is more suffocating than that it makes me feel safe."

Erza nodded, as if this was the most important thing she'd heard today. "I see. But….Kai, was it?"

I quickly sat up, as if I was called by a teacher. Not Gajeel, some normal one. "Yes!"

"Why do you feel the need to protect this girl, in particular?"

There was some giggling at the table, because Erza unintentionally made it sound like Ary and I were in love or something. I felt bad when I saw how embarrassed Ary was.

"Because I owe her" I said, which (thank god) made the giggling at the table stop. Even Natsu noticed the sudden change of atmosphere and quit fooling around with Happy. The twins looked away from Lucy, as they too were the ones most affected by the particular incident we were talking about.

Erza looked around the table, lifting one eyebrow. Her eyes got caught at Gajeel, who stared at the empty plate in front of him. "I see. Well, whatever happened in the past….let it not ruin your future. Tonight, we will dine in harmony!"

Many eyebrows were raised as to what that battle cry was supposed to mean. Lucy cleared her throat. "What she's trying to say, is that we should have fun."

A few heads nodded and some hummed in agreement. Erza seemed satisfied, and she had the right to be. The rest of the night we had fun, cracked jokes and laughed our asses off. For a short while, Ary forgot I was her bodyguard and just smiled along with the rest, which was a rare sight.

Gajeel kept his act up for a long time, until Natsu started bragging about how he defeated the iron dragon slayer a couple months back.

"…and then he started crying and begging me not to-"

"Say what now? That is not how it happened at all!"

"Did so! You were a real pain in the ass, but I spared you! That's the truth, guys!"

"Oh yeah? You wanna have another round? Imma bash your head in!"

"Did he just admit he cried?" Samdy mumbled. I shrugged.

"He didn't say he didn't."

They looked just like two school girls fighting over the same guy, and it was rare to see Gajeel act so childish, but also very funny. I noticed again how he's not much older than us. He often acts like he's seen thousands of years, but in the end he's a just a guy who happens to have the power to beat the shit out of dragons.

Gray and Lucy had to pull the two dragon slayers apart after both had jumped on top of the table. Gajeel didn't seem that upset about the things Natsu said. It seemed more like a challenge to him. That small teasing didn't hurt him at all, and I'd almost start to say that they'd get along quite well.

Which was weird, considering the rumours that went around about our teacher's past. I wondered how much of it was true.

As the curious person I am, I wanted to investigate. I couldn't ask Gajeel directly of course. I didn't have a death wish at the time, so no thanks. But I figured since Erza seemed so eager to teach us about magic, she might want to tell me some stories.

"Miss Erza?" I said, waving my hand to get her attention. There was so much rambling around us I figured Gajeel couldn't hear us talking. She bowed forward, her cheeks blushing a bit.

"Don't be so formal," she mumbled. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ary frown at me as well. I didn't think it would hurt if she heard the next conversation, so I didn't bother switching seats.

"Can I ask you something?" I continued, and Erza lifted one eyebrow. I think she must've known it was something meant only for particular ears, as she got closer.

"What do you want to know?"

I glanced over my shoulder, making sure my teacher wasn't paying attention. Apparently Natsu had said something offensive again, and Gajeel's voice formed a barrage of curse words. "It's about the dragon slayers. Just what happened between them?"

Erza looked through her red hair at the two who were about to fight again. "Well, I don't think it was really between _them_ , it was more between two guilds. Your teacher belonged to another, Natsu with us. The two guilds clashed, and so did they. They're both eager to fight, and both care about their pride, so it's obvious that's forming a rivalry."

"But Gajeel is part of your guild now as well, right?" I asked. Erza nodded, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yes, but only recently. This actually is his first job in the name of our guild." A smile appeared around her lips. "And from what I've seen, it's going quite well."

"Was it a dark guild?" Ary suddenly interrupted. I glanced at her in surprise, she answered it with a shrug. "What? I have questions too."

Erza shook her head. "No. Phantom Lord could be considered a dark guild, but officially it wasn't…" The voice of the red knight faded. "Wait, who told you that?"

"Oh, no one in particular" I said, and it started of way too serious than I intended, which earned me a poke from Ary in my ribs.

"One of our classmates ran into a strange cloaked individual" she replied, the volume of her voice lowering. "We have yet to find out who."

Erza nodded slowly, and seemed worried. "A cloaked individual, huh? Sounds like someone was trying to get in the way of Gajeel's job."

 **Lucy**

I let out a yawn, kicking my shoes off. "That sure was fun, wasn't it, Erza?"

I heard a hum in agreement coming from the bathroom, where Erza was taking a shower. "It sure was interesting. I honestly feel bad we can't stay much longer."

I sighed. Erza was right. We'd lost too much time hanging around the group of kids, while we were still on a job.

Searching through my bag for my pyjamas, I find the paper with the request. It sure wasn't that special; just a bounty hunt for a group of pirates, last seen on this island. We even got a description of the leader from the person who send out this request.

"Hey, Erza" I called, while resting my head on the pillow. "Where do you think this pirate is hiding?"

Erza turned off the shower and I heard her wet feet searching around for a towel. "Most probably in a nearby pub. That is, if he hasn't already found out we're looking for him."

I narrowed my eyes, staring at the paper. "According to this, he's supposed to have light hair, and even an eyepatch. Oh, bluish hair, even."

Erza came out of the bathroom, already in her pyjamas. "Bluish?"

I nodded, but then realized why her voice sounded so cold when saying that. Evading her eyes I tried to be cool about, and not make her feel uncomfortable. It really pains me when I see a person as strong as Erza get hurt. "Yeah, that's what it says. Should be easy to find, right?"

Erza sat down on the other bed, braiding her red hair and getting ready for a good night of sleep. "Of course! He won't escape our furious feelings of justice!"

I hid a smile behind my hand. "Yeah, of course. But….what exactly did they do?"

Erza pulled her legs up to her chin. "Nothing special. Just some stealing here and there, and he's associated with many dark guilds…he's also said to be quite the opponent to a guild wizard."

"R-really?" I stuttered, suddenly feeling a shiver going down my spine. Erza didn't seem that worried, but more determined.

"Don't let that fear you, Lucy! There is a reason it is only a B-class mission!"

I sighed, looking at the paper again. "Yeah, you're right…"

Then, suddenly, I felt really cold. The paper in my hands started trembling. I gulped, and Erza frowned in concern. "What is it Lucy? Are you not feeling well?"

I shook my head, unable to speak. With one finger I pointed at an icon in the corner of the request, where a tiny 'S' was written. When Erza saw it, she grabbed it out of my hands and took a closer look.

"How…how is this possible?!"

All I could do was sit there in awe. We'd made a big mistake.

"Who was the one who picked it again?!" Erza shouted almost.

"N-Natsu?" I stuttered.


	31. Chapter 31: Test Practice

**Ah, just finished this chappie today. I hope I can keep the weekly uploads going, but I might have some delays next week. Sorry in advance**

 **(disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 31: Test practice_

 **Rose**

The day after dinner with the Fairy Tail mages, we had to get up early again. It was so tiresome, and I had to beg Lily to even help me sit up. But as soon as I realized where we were, I got excited again. Because we were in a land of magic, and we were going to become real wizards today. Well, that was the idea.

We ate breakfast in the hotel, before heading to the beach again. Gajeel seemed in a way better mood than the night before, probably because the other mages weren't around. I didn't understand why he didn't like them. The only one he seemed to have a soft spot for was the blonde girl, who he apparently made cry on a few occasions. Especially Natsu was (still) very pissed about that, while Lucy seemed cool with it. What exactly happened neither of them said. But I did hear from Ary that Gajeel apparently wasn't a criminal or anything, which is a good thing.

It already spread around the school that we had a convicted person as a teacher, but thank god we could now get rid of that rumour. I couldn't wait to tell the others back at home.

"Alright, punks" Gajeel started the lesson, like almost every day. He'd crossed his arms, standing with feet shoulder width apart in the sand, and seemed much more comfortable around us than before. It really was the Fairy Tail mages that pissed him off. "Today, I want y'all to choose one person to team up with, and another team to compete against. Meaning one of you is the defence, the other offense. Understand?"

"Aye, sir!" was the answer, which was an inside joke we came up with after meeting Happy, the blue cat. Gajeel's eyes narrowed for a second, as some giggles went through the group. I felt kind of bad for him, but it was just too hilarious.

I begged Lily to team up with me, and she agreed. Having her as a defence would be perfect, with her bubbly magic. My offense was really weak, so I thought it would be better to just count on her for the time being.

Gajeel had been our teacher for quite a while now, and it was clear to me that everyone was starting to develop their own magic. Everyone, except me.

Most of us knew our speciality; Samdy used his magic to deform objects to his liking, Sasha had some kind of spider power, Ibisan had his transformation, Caroline had weird eyes, Tilly could turn invisible, Kai had immense power which he could control the earth with, Greg and Floyd had some kind of spinning power which they used to lift objects in the air and trap enemies in, Ary had her healing magic, Layton was massively strong and invincible almost, Jake could exorcise anything and even taught himself some dark magic, Martin could call forth explosives from plain air, Lily with her bubble magic, and then there was me.

The last one remaining, who didn't know anything about her powers. During the whole demon incident I was teamed up with Martin, and he was kind of the one who saved that 'mission'. All I could really do was play decoy. Back then, I was fine with doing just that. I could at least do something.

But I couldn't remain a decoy forever. Kubo selected me for the academy because I was special, like my classmates. All I had to do was hope the thing that made me special was not being the decoy.

"Alright" Gajeel barked, as soon as all teams were formed. "I see the teams are all down. Now choose one to fight. And don't be afraid to hold back."

"Excuse me?" Samdy spoke up, even raising his hand. "Are you making us fight each other?"

As always, Gajeel didn't seem that impressed by Samdy's protesting. It almost became a routine. "Oh, don't worry. This is just practice for the midterms."

That's when our teacher spoke the most terrifying word of all: 'midterm'. We were only in our third year, we still had one more year before graduating, but it still scared us. In the system of Merlin's School of Magic, you start collecting grades the year before senior year. All those grades combined, plus the official exams will determine if you've passed or not.

Next to homework, projects and tests, there was also practice for the exams. We'd already gotten the programme of what to study for all the other courses, but not Magic Practice 101.

So I rose my hand.

"What is it, Rose?"

I cleared my throat. "Well…what is it that we have to do on the exam? Like, the actual one?"

Gajeel's red eyes glimmered, and from what I'd seen from him so far, that only meant trouble. Which he enjoyed, of course. "You'll have to beat me!"

A mixture of gasps, cheering and cries went through the group. There were high fives, mental breakdowns and gulps shared everywhere. I stood in the middle of it all, staring blankly into things only I could see. My legs felt like loose sticks, my hands were sweaty.

At that moment, I felt the urge to raise my hand again. This time around, it would be to let everyone know I would quit. That I'd go back to a normal high school, and block everything magical out of my life. That I wasn't worthy of becoming a mage like Natsu, or Erza. That it wasn't for me.

My hands folded into fists, my nails buried themselves into the skin of my palms. There was just no way.

As I stood there on the beach, surrounded by all these talented people, I suddenly remembered the vision. One of the first lessons Gajeel taught us. The meditation one, where we all got to see a glimpse of what our power would look like in the future.

A smile appeared on my face.

 **Greg**

"Rich Man's Slingshot!"

I groaned. "Again? Flo, you know what to do."

My brother nodded, and we split up. The slingshot with the diamond attached to the end crashed down in the sand where we just stood in. Floyd and I each held an invisible rope, and made sure we ran around Samdy and Sasha. When we were able to high five each other, the two of them were trapped in a net which we just created.

"Sasha, what happened to the defence?!" Samdy shouted as he stumbled on his feet. His teammate, Sasha, was strapped to his back by our net, and it made the two of them look like a turtle as they struggled to break free.

"Where were you aiming at, genius? If you'd just do your job, I would've been able to shield us from this!"

Samdy finally managed to get a hold of his weapon again, while we were still laughing our asses off. Sure, they might've been a good team in the past, but right now all they did was fight each other instead of working together. They basically paved a way for us two to defeat them easily.

Floyd poked me in the arm. "Look at professor Hipster."

I chuckled at the nickname we'd given Gajeel the night before, and glanced over my shoulder. Our teacher looked at our two opponents, who were still scolding each other, and shook his head.

"They're hopeless" I laughed. Floyd nodded, but his smile faded a little. "Bro?"

He blinked, as if he woke up from thinking of something serious. Which surprised me, because neither of us ever got serious about anything. "Hm?"

"What's up?"

He shook his head, evading my eyes. "Nothing. I was just thinking that….it's good to have you back."

He had his head bowed, but I knew what his face looked like. Identical to mine, of course, but also the expression. I was only gone for a few days after the attack, lay in a coma for about a week. To him, it had felt like an entire year was lost. To me, it felt like he'd changed in a short amount of time. He was more cautious, wasn't as carefree as before. He almost seemed paranoid sometimes.

Although he never explicitly told me what happened, I had a good guess of what he was thinking.

"Jeez, man" I groaned, giving him a push on the shoulder. He stumbled on his feet, caught by surprise. Nothing like him. "Shit happens. Don't get all sentimental about it."

He looked up, his eyes widened. All he could do was stare at me for a second, before that stupid grin we both had reappeared. "I'm not. I'm just saying I'd rather fight alongside you than Miss Fatty."

"I heard that!" Rose shrieking voice sounded from the other side of the beach. Floyd glared over his shoulder.

"Good!"

Samdy and Sasha finally seemed to find a way to escape our nets. They helped each other back on their feet, whispering of a new strategy. I gave Floyd a look, and without talking we came up with a new plan of attack.

He might've been right. It was good to be back.

The two idiots seemed to have come to a decision. We all took a fighting stance. Sasha started waving her arms around like a crazy person, and at the same time readying that weird glue that was her magic. Samdy retrieved his slingshot fully and was already thinking of a new weapon to forge. And all the while we just waited. We were more the team to respond, not to take action first. And so we waited.

The perfect moment for someone to interrupt. It was a blue haired guy with an eyepatch who came running up to Gajeel.

"GAAAAAAAAAJEEEEEEEEL! MY BROOOO! YOU GOTTA HELP ME!"

Rider waved his arms around in panic, and I would almost say he was tearing up. Gajeel groaned when seeing his friend, but all of the sudden he dropped that act. He replaced it with dropping his arms and frowning worryingly.

"What the hell is going on?!" he shouted at Rider, who approached him in total panic. His rambling made no sense, and so Gajeel turned towards us. "Stop what you're doing. Get behind me."

I eyed my brother, who shrugged, before running towards our teacher. Samdy grabbed Sasha's arm and dragged her along with him.

Rider duck behind Gajeel, his hands over his head, pointing at the main entrance of the beach, which connected the sand with the boulevard. We all stared at the top of the hill, waiting for the pursuers of Rider to appear.

"Don't interfere" Gajeel mumbled. "Let me handle it first."

There was nodding as an answer. Our group was buzzing with magic, and despite the weird situation, it felt really cool.

"What's going on?" Jake asked, as he positioned himself next to Gajeel.

"You feel that magical energy?" our teacher mumbled. I frowned, and tried to concentrate. We'd never properly learned how to sense magical energy, it was just a thing that came with the package of being a mage. That time at the beach, I could feel a strange kind of aura approaching us. A really cold, bloody, murderous, just really really creepy aura. No wonder Gajeel freaked out.

"Who is it?" Jake mumbled. Gajeel grumbled something I couldn't understand.

Finally, a shadow appeared at the top of the sand hill. It wasn't a monster or anything, or something we should really be scared of. It was just Erza.

"Huh?" I said out loud. Erza's brown eyes immediately caught sight of Rider, who was still breathing heavily. The red haired knight pulled out her sword, pointing it in the direction of Gajeel.

"I'm sorry to disturb your lesson, but I have to arrest that man behind you."

Gajeel grunted in annoyance. "What the hell did you do this time, Eric?"

Rider shrugged his shoulders in played innocence. "I dunno…nothing much… I didn't kill anyone!"

"Gajeel" Jake interrupted again. "That energy….it's not coming from her, is it?"

Our teacher shook his head slowly. "No. But I have an idea who it might be. Some of you might have already met him."


	32. Chapter 32: Busted

**Hello dear people.**

 **So yeah cool chapter up ahead. Much fun. Good luck.**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy :(**

 _Chapter 32: Busted_

 **Floyd**

Erza took a step forward, her sword still pointed in our direction. "Hand over the pirate, Gajeel."

"I'll consider doing that after you tell me what the hell he did" Gajeel barked back. It kind of sounded like a conversation between Sam and Sas. Although this was a bit more serious.

I made sure I positioned myself next to Greg, with magic ready in the centre of my palms. Something was definitely wrong, and although I had no idea what, I could at least prevent my brother from ending up in the hospital once again.

"Alright" Erza responded, still holding her sword up. "That man I am looking for is called Erik Illias Jarson, better known under his fake name 'Rider'. He's stolen several precious objects of our client's. We were promised a grant reward for capturing him."

" _We_ , you say?" Gajeel mumbled, taking a step forward. Rider still sat in the sand with his arms covering his head. "Then why are you the only one here?"

That was what I was thinking as well. I really wanted to see what Lucy was wearing that day.

To all of our surprises, a smirk appeared around Erza's lips. The kind of smirk a conspirator had. None of us understood what she was gesturing. Well, maybe Jake did, but I sure didn't.

Gajeel responded with an "I see", as if he knew what was going on. He glared over his shoulder to our group, his eyes seeking Lily, as always. "You know what to do."

Lily blinked in confusion, and then nodded nervously. She probably still had to get used to being useful to someone, instead of just being a pretty face behind glasses.

"Idiot one and two" our teacher continued, by which he meant me and my brother. No idea how he came up with such an original nickname. He might be a wizard of dragon magic, but with words…not so much. "Help strengthen the barrier. Don't lose your concentration, got it?"

"Aye sir" I mumbled. Before I walked over to the west side of the group, I locked eyes with my brother, who took the east side. He better not get his ass kicked again.

"So what are these objects, exactly?" Gajeel continued the conversation. His voice sounded less natural than before, as if he was really struggling to keep the chat going. It was almost as if I was watching Martin hit on girls.

Erza started to stroll over towards Gajeel, her weapons still ready for attack. "Oh you know, some orbs, silver, artworks, stuff like that. I think it's more nostalgic than it is expensive, but the client really wants it back."

"It's not me!" Rider suddenly shouted. "I haven't been to Lux in over three years! And you know I don't do that stuff anymore, bro!"

"Shut up, Eric" Gajeel said calmly. His voice lowered and sounded a bit softened, but loud enough for the ones present at the beach to hear. Rider, or Eric, also felt the strangeness of the small talk between Erza and Gajeel. It was almost like I was watching two of the clowns back at the circus, trying to entertain a drunken crowd. "Gotta be some real good sum of money to get you all the way over here."

Erza shrugged her shoulders, her weapon lowering a bit. "Gotta pay the rent, you know."

I frowned. If this went on for much longer, I'd fall asleep. I locked eyes with Jake, silently asking him what the hell was going on. He silently said I'd just have to wait and see. Something was about to go down.

Lily was done putting up her usual bubbly shield, so I could start spreading ropes across the barrier to strengthen it. At the top of the round bubble, my ropes would meet my brother's, and the circle would be complete. While I was gathering my magic, I glanced over my shoulder to my brother. He better watch out.

From what I'd seen so far, Gajeel and Erza weren't exactly best friends. Gajeel wasn't exactly friends with any of the mages from Fairy Tail, although he didn't seem to dislike getting worked up by what Natsu was saying about him. But right now, Gajeel tried to converse with Erza as if they were old pals.

They were almost standing face to face, with only one feet between them, when finally someone interrupted. It was Natsu with, ah there she was, Lucy. She was wearing shorts and a white top.

"Erza! We found him!" Lucy shouted. The red haired knight dropped her weapon and seemed to sigh for a second. I would too, if I got that close to fighting Gajeel.

"Where?" she asked Lucy. The blonde beauty pointed at the east. The shore. The sea.

I immediately wanted to head over to my brother. If the enemy came from there…

"Don't" Greg said. I stopped in my tracks. The barrier would break down if I left, but I didn't care about that.

"Floyd" Jake said as well.

"I know" I mumbled.

As if the person hiding in the water heard what went down at the beach, a shadow surfaced. First, all we saw was a dark mess of smoke and drops of salt water. Slowly but surely, the capes surrounding the person disappeared, revealing a guy dressed in leather. Everything he wore was black, which created a contrast with his blonde hair that was so blond it almost looked white.

I gulped. This guy wasn't only weird, but also creepy as hell. And to make it even worse, he started _giggling._ With one gloved hand, he rubbed over his chin, his dark eyes glimmering mysteriously. "Oopsy. Seems like I've been found out."

As soon as the man had spoken a few words, Samdy was triggered. He even gasped out loud, to the surprise of Sasha, who was standing next to him.

"What is it?"

"That voice…." Was all Sam could say. He licked his lips before continuing. "It's him…the guy in the capes."

 **Ary**

Narrowing my eyes, I try to memorize everything about this stranger coming from the water. According to Samdy, it is the same man responsible for spreading rumours about Gajeel's past. What was he doing here?

"Didn't expect you to be here" Gajeel suddenly said, turning towards the strange man. So he knows who he is as well.

The stranger giggles in a strange way, grinning at our teacher while he does. "Oh, you know how it goes with guilds. Got some pretty difficult clients right now, and when you're traveling you just realize how small the world of magic actually is-"

"What are you doin' here?" Gajeel interrupted, clearly not interested in what the stranger had to say. I actually found the way he pointed out that the world of magic is 'small' something to remember.

The stranger took a few steps towards the shore, and Gajeel, together with the Fairy Tail mages, positioned themselves between our group and the sea. As the stranger neared, I could feel the weird aura getting stronger and stronger.

"Like I said; tough client, tough mission." The stranger spread his arms wide in a theatrical way. He sure liked to have all the attention.

Gajeel crossed his arms, his feet shoulder width apart as always. "Lemme guess; that mission of yours involves all of us here?"

I frowned. I knew there was something strange going on with the pirate, it was logical why he'd get into trouble. Fairy Tail is supposed to be the number one guild in all of Fiore, so it's no surprise they've made themselves some enemies here and there.

But why us? Of course, Headmaster Kubo sure has some dirty secrets that have yet to be revealed, but why did that stranger from the sea need _us_ to be on the beach? What can we, a group of lousy wizards in training, be to him?

The stranger nodded. "Exactly. Which is why I posted this little bounty hunt in your guild hall."

" _You're_ the client?!" Lucy gasped. "But…that's impossible…we just met him yesterday…"

The stranger from the sea chuckled, running his gloved fingers through his blonde short hair. "You mean my buddy Jurek? Then he put up a good act." The stranger chuckled again. "I posted the request, knowing at least a few decent mages from Fairy Tail would be silly enough to fall for it." Natsu, the fire dragon slayer, immediately blasted out in an anger tirade. Lucy could only barely hold him down, and I suddenly wondered where Gray was. All the mages we'd met were here, except for him. "I knew you had some sort of friendship with the pirate called Rider of the Columni Pirates. It was all too lucky you asked him for the travel to Lux."

"What do you want, Paco?" Gajeel grumbled. The stranger, apparently called 'Paco', took another few steps towards the shore. His feet were still surrounded by water, but he wasn't below sea level anymore.

"I just came here to deliver a message, that's all." Paco rubbed his gloved hands together, smiling mysteriously. To all of our surprises, he turned to look directly at us, the students. "It's from your Headmaster. The trip is, sadly, over. You are to return to the school at once and give up all the magical power you have gathered here on Lux."

As the stranger was talking, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Who else could it be than my self-proclaimed bodyguard Kai. Strangely enough, I didn't bother him taking care of me at that time.

"Oh, don't be scared!" the stranger continued. "Your magic will only be used to empower a massive weapon which will be able to destroy Fairy Tail and Makarov with it. No biggie."

Suddenly, the barrier started flickering a bit. Lily's fears broke her concentration, and even the twins seemed to struggle keeping their magic up.

But we didn't all abandon hope. We always had our own bigmouths to count on.

"And what if we refuse?" Samdy shouted daringly. And he was right. Paco had no leverage on us. Not yet.

Paco himself grinned, nodding in agreement. "Ah, you sure are smart. Too bad Kubo is smarter than all of you combined. After all, he is the one that found out most of you. Including the place most of you used to live, where you went to school before, what your favourite food was…oh, and did I say family?"

The barrier now officially dropped. Lily was having an internal panic attack, as were many other people. Not everyone in our class was an orphan. And even the ones who were found it difficult to accept that there were hostages now. If we wouldn't return to the school and give up all our magic, Kubo would hurt our families.

"You bastard!" Natsu shouted, as he wanted to run up and punch Paco. For some reason, Gajeel was now the one to stop him from doing that. With one hand, he shoved the pink haired guy back, as if saying that it wasn't his fight.

Paco seemed to enjoy the resistance, and sighed as if he was watching a beautiful movie. "Don't blame it on me. I'm just doing what I was told." He then turned to us, the children. His lower lip curled up in a patronizing way. "And don't make such long faces! It's not me you should be angry at. Right, Gajeel?"

All heads turned towards our teacher, whom we trusted with our lives. He evaded all our eyes, not because he wasn't interested. He felt ashamed.

"What is he talking about?" Tilly asked from the back of the group. Gajeel didn't respond, but kept staring at the sand in front of him. Paco laughed again.

"Oh my. Did I ruin it for you?"

Erza stepped forward. "Gajeel, what's going on?"

Gajeel still kept his mouth shut. And I didn't understand why.

Paco eyes glimmered. "Did you forget to tell them? Did you forget to tell them the real reason you're teaching them about magic?"


	33. Chapter 33: Betrayal

**Hi I'm back.**

 **(Disclaimer: No moneyz made dude)**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 _Chapter 33: Betrayal_

 **Layton**

"That bastard!"

Another chair was thrown across the room, followed by a loud thud. Samdy was out of his mind, for sure. I guess we all were.

"I should've known! I….fuck!"

He angrily paced around the hotel room, his face reddened with madness. Sasha rose to her feet. "Yes, we're all screwed over. Stop acting like a maniac!"

Samdy evaded Sas' eyes, and instead stepped outside the room, onto the balcony. Crossing his arms, he stared towards the shore, still softly mumbling and cursing to himself. Next to Samdy's angry words, were also the sounds of Caroline's sobbing. Sasha had her arm around her friend, who sat on one of the beds. Ibisan sat at her other side, awkwardly rubbing her back. Ary sat on a chair in the corner, staring blankly into the floor. Kai stood at her side like the servant he pretended to be, leaning with his shoulder against the wall. Rose, Lily and Tilly had positioned themselves on the other bed, all still a bit dazed by the news. All of us were in utter shock, even the twins were silent. Each of them stood at one side of the door, the entrance to the hotel room. Jake stood on the balcony with Samdy, Martin next to him, silently placing a hand on the shoulder of his friend.

We were all devastated, even though we could've known. All of it was just too good to be true. A group of outcasts from society, and even from the magic school they were sent to, suddenly got a mentor willing to turn their sorry asses into powerful mages, even offering to take them to a magical island to max their training to that of an actual Fiore wizard.

It's all too stupid to be true. We shouldn't be surprised that all of it was a gigantic scheme. Or that Gajeel never really cared about any of us. Oh, sure, he did at some point, but all of it was to assure success for his own goddamn plans.

"Damnit!" I grumble. No one is really surprised by any swear words by now. Everyone feels the same. Everyone knows being mad and sad is stupid.

Ary is the first one to actually say something that makes any sense. She clears her throat, and finally turns her eyes away from the carpeted floor. "Alright. I know we're all…recuperating, but we still have a decision to make. Do we return to the school, or do we run?"

Before anyone could really answer, Samdy let out a humourless chuckle. "There's no decision to be made. We're not going. Period."

"Hell no" Rose immediately spurted. "My parents are there. If we stay here, they'll be killed! I can't live with that for the rest of my life."

Samdy turned around and stepped back into the building, his face still mad. "Oh, what's your great plan then? Go back, become ammunition for that stupid weapon and die in the process?! You heard what that blondy said, Rose! We'll die if we go back! It doesn't matter if your parents live, you won't be able to see them anyways!"

Rose blinked quickly, more tears appearing. Sasha got on her feet again. "Sam, calm down."

Samdy jacked his head into Sasha direction, his eyes filled with rage. "How can I calm down? That bastard deceived all of us, filled our heads with big dreams. That fucker knew the entire time that we were nothing more than a sacrifice. And he enjoyed it!"

Sasha took a step towards Samdy, and I think at that moment she might've been the only one capable of getting through to him. "I know. We all know what happened. But right now, we have to think of our families-"

A crazy chuckle emerged from Samdy's throat. "Family?" Samdy's voice broke slightly at the end of that phrase. For some reason, he seemed to calm down a bit. He evaded everyone's eyes when he continued speaking. "My own mother threw me off a building in the hopes of getting rid of me."

At that moment, it felt as if Samdy just dropped a bomb. Heads were bowed, breaths were taken. Samdy never spoke about his parents. I once asked him about it, and he warily replied they 'abandoned' him. None of us had any idea he walked around with something like this. Not even Ibisan, his best friend, knew.

"The closest thing I have to a family….." he continued after a minute or so, "is you guys. Thinking about my family means I have to make sure you are all save."

"Sam" Sasha said, her voice soft. She took one of Samdy's hands in hers, as an attempt to support him. But Samdy kept his head bowed, in either shame or emotion. "I understand that this must be hard for you to get….but if one of us was held hostage and you were asked to sacrifice yourself in order to save them…would you do it?"

Samdy didn't respond, and I'm not sure whether he was even listening. Sasha sniffed her nose before continuing. "Because that is how we feel right now. My father…he utterly despises me, he has wished me more times dead than anyone else. But Caroline's parents…they love her very much. And Caroline loves them back equally. I know how much they mean to her, and because of that….I'm willing to become ammunition if I have to."

Samdy slightly raised his head, looking between his curly hair. "You're insane."

Sasha shrugged in response. "I'm a mage. Comes with the package."

"Have we reached a decision?" Ary interrupted. No one really answered, because we were interrupted again by a knock on the door. All heads turned immediately. I think we all thought the same.

"May we come in?"

It wasn't who we thought. Erza appeared from the other side of the door, accompanied by Gray. Both of them looked very tense. Entering the room, Erza took a quick glance around. I spotted the pity in her face. "How are you all holding up?"

Some murmurings were the answer she got. It didn't really change her expression. "I know this must all be hard for you…"

Gray, who stood behind Erza, shook his head at the way Erza was handling this situation. She didn't show any real emotion or anything.

"… which is why we've been trying to help you out a bit. From what I understand, not all of you desire to return to the school. Gray contacted our guild master, and if you decide not to return, you're welcome with us."

 **Lily**

I remembered dad's silly jokes about my magic.

" _How about we call you a 'bubbleician'? The Legendary Bubble Master?"_

" _You know, you could become some kind of clown at kid's parties….what? I'm being serious!"_

" _Well, you did always love to bathe with a shitload of soap in the water….sorry, language, I know."_

" _Don't you agree, Margaret? Don't you see how Lily can… - alright, I'll stop. Stop hitting me!"_

Through the tears, I was able to smile. Somehow.

I sat on top of my suitcase, looking out to the docks. Rider offered to ship us back, which was really sweet. We already had to make a tough decision on our own, not having to worry about how to travel back was a huge relief.

I was scared out of my mind for what was going to happen once we reached the school. According to Paco's story, we would die instantly after all our magic was drained out of our bodies. I couldn't imagine what that felt like.

"Lily" a voice said. It was Layton. I again, tried to smile.

"Hey."

Layton was one of the people without family. He had the option of joining the Fairy Tail guild, but he refused. Somewhere in my mind, I found it stupid, but opposite of that was Samdy's argument. Layton may not have had any blood relatives left, but that didn't mean he didn't have a family.

We were all going in this together. Even Samdy agreed to come with. His logic was that if everyone is going, his whole family would be wiped out. There wouldn't be any point in living any more.

"Hey?" Layton said, and I realized I was dazing off again. I quickly shook my head and readjusted my glasses.

"Sorry, got a bit caught up on something."

Layton shrugged, and swung his bag off his shoulder. "That's alright. I get it. We're all in the same boat. A very scary one."

"Yup" I replied, nodding slowly. "It's just….insane. We're all like…what, fifteen, fourteen? We shouldn't have to make these kinds of decisions."

Layton sighed. "I don't think anyone should."

"Yeah…maybe you're right."

Layton sat down on top of his bag, crossing his legs. "And I hate that I'm right."

I straightened my back, and looked Layton in the eyes. There was something weird about him sometimes. I narrowed my eyes, and tried to think, not realizing Layton was turning red by my crazy look.

"Uhm…is something wrong?"

I decided not to get caught up on embarrassment. "You're always calm, aren't you?"

Layton frowned a bit awkwardly. "Uh, I guess?"

"Even when you know you're about to die?"

He shrugged slowly. "Yeah, I guess. That's just the way it is. I made that decision, gotta live with it."

"Keeping it simple?"

"Y-yeah?"

I nodded. "Cool. Teach me, please. Because I'm freaking out every second I sit here."

Layton chuckled at that, which also made me laugh. Layton was cool, someone who didn't make things too complicated. He was fun to hang around from time to time, even if it was only to get rid of Rose's troublesome life where most of the troubles were just her being her. Layton just kept his head cool.

"You're cool, Layton" I said out loud, without even realizing. Layton blinked in confusion, and then awkwardly smiled.

"T-thanks."

"You're welcome." I honestly stopped caring about myself saying awkward things. In two days all of us would be dead, so what was the fricking point of having a normal conversation?

Layton suddenly shut his eyes to the wooden planks of the docks. He seemed shy for some reason. "You know, Lily…I think you're cool too."

I realized he looked really cute when he said that. And it made me feel kind of strange as well. Sure, Layton was nice, but I wouldn't know what to do if he would start confessing his love for me. Because it sure as hell looked like that was about to happen. We were on our way to our deaths, I couldn't start speed dating him, even if I wanted to. Well, maybe I wanted to. Maybe.

"Thanks" I replied, without trying to sound too happy about it. Sure, I did have a crush on Layton a few weeks back, but everything was different then .

Layton smiled in return, and dared to look me in the eyes for a few seconds, before bowing his head again. It was kind of adorable.

"You know," he said, and that made me uncomfortable. What if he would actually…. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Oh shit. Here it comes.

"I've spoken about it with a few other people…" What? So he told the entire class he has a crush on me?!

"It's just that…don't you think it's weird that Gray contacted the guild so soon?"

"What?"

Layton blinked in confusion. I felt my cheeks were turning red. The 'what' sounded more as if I was mad at him for something. I didn't mean that, though…

"Uhm, well, when Paco appeared on the beach, Gray wasn't there. Erza later said he was busy contacting the guild. But why? Did they already know about Gajeel's plan?"

I decided to shove my embarrassment aside and actually think. I ended up frowning, which makes my face look really ugly. "Now that you mention it…it is kind of strange. You think Fairy Tail is in on this whole thing?"


	34. Chapter 34: Our Glory Days - Part 1

**'Sup everyone,**

 **Yes, another weekly upload, for once. Unfortunately, next week and the week after that I probably won't be able to because I'll be out camping in nature where internet is nothing but a myth. Sorry in advance.**

 **(Disclaimer; NO MONEYZ)**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 _Chapter 34: Our Glory Days – Part 1_

 **Kuchiha**

If I wasn't getting paid, I would've quit this job long ago.

After mister Redfox left for boot camp with his class, Headmaster Kubo set his entire plan in motion. First, he told me to arrange a meeting with all the teachers present at the moment, which of course excluded mister Redfox. At this meeting, he told his personnel that they were short on money and that he had to close down the school. All the teachers would receive a cheque with their loan for at least the next three months, but that was all Kubo said he could do for them. This was obviously a lie. Sure, money was a problem at Merlin' School of Magic, but it wasn't as dramatic as he made it sound. There were some professors who had their doubts as well, but all of them pretty much stopped complaining when they saw the amount of zero's on the cheques. Greedy bastards.

After the meeting was over, the Headmaster had another assignment for me; to let all the students know the school was closing down. The fact that a lot of the children here were orphans and pretty much had nowhere else to go didn't seem to bother him at all. There were only fourteen students that really mattered to him, and those just so happened to be the ones Gajeel had been teaching all this time. After all the students had left, he made me look for the files of the fourteen students in question. He hung their information and pictures all over his office, and hung up notes next to them. Things regarding their 'special abilities'. I knew MSM was a weird place, but 'bubble control' just crossed the line for me.

But as I said; I still got paid. And I was already too deep in to back away now. Kubo didn't tell me all that much, but I was afraid that the things I had seen and knew about were enough to get me in trouble if I tried to run away. As in; I might end up dead.

When the school was empty and even the janitors had left, Kubo was already working on the next step. The purpose of the files of the special fourteen students was not to educate himself with the information, but another group of people. All Kubo told me he was expecting eight people to arrive, and that I had to bring them to him immediately. He didn't say how they'd arrive, what they looked like, what their names were and what purpose they had here.

Well, the first thing was quickly cleared up. Eight people arrived not by foot, but on what looked like a giant squid. And it flew.

Yeah, call me crazy. I don't think that after everything I'd seen, I was even a little surprised something like this would happen at this place. There was this giant squid, as big as a camping van flying through the air like any bird would. It was as red as blood with dark tentacles, which swung around like wings. His giant, almost googly, yellow eyes blinked not even once when it lowered altitude. On top of its giant head sat eight people, whom I assumed were Kubo's guests.

Before the beast 'landed', all of them jumped off and landed on two feet with scarily ease. My hands were shaking, my eyes still fixated on the giant sea monster in front of me. I didn't see the leader of the group walking up to me until he was very close to my face.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" he grinned. I could feel his cold breath on my cheek. Instinctively, I took a step back. This was even worse than when I had to receive mister Redfox a few months back.

Thinking of my pay check, I quickly redeemed myself. Clearing my throat, I prayed to god my hands would stop shaking.

"She is…something" I managed to say. The man standing in front of me threw his head back and laughed. He looked strange, the kind of strange mister Redfox also had. Some weird fashion, I suppose. The man wasn't that old, maybe a few years older than me. His hair was so blonde it almost looked white, which I thought might be bleached, yet it looked too natural. He wore a black coat which went all the way to the ground, and looked an awful lot like a cloud of smoke was hanging around him.

"I assume you know who we are?" he said after he was done laughing. Taking a step sideways, I could look at the other people who had jumped off the squid. They all looked weird.

The first one to catch my eyes was a large woman. She was even taller than mister Redfox, and maybe had twice the muscle. Her body was covered in some brown kind of leather, her dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Over her eyes she wore gigantic goggles, which hid at least 75% of her face.

Next to her stood an elderly man. He leaned heavily on what I assumed was a staff, with at the end a purple stone. His back was bowed and seemed almost broken. His head was covered in chunks of grey hairs, and his eyebrows were no better. He wore greyish cloths which had more in common with curtains than actual clothing.

Behind him a young girl stood, who could have been a student at this school. With her hair in two ponytails on her head, she looked even younger. She wore a pink with black jumpsuit kind of thing. What interested me the most was her bored face. She inspected her surroundings with disgust.

Close to the squid stood a large man who resembled a Viking. I think he actually was one. He wore a chest plate and a kilt made of animal fur. On his head he wore a helmet, and the rest of his face was covered by a beard. Almost a Viking.

Closest to the man who was still breathing on my face, stood a tiny woman. I almost didn't see her as she had the length of a toddler. Her hair was messy compared to the other two women of the group, as were her clothes. She wore simple clothing under a dirty apron. She seemed to be chewing on something, spat it out every few minutes, and then continued chewing again. I wondered how much of whatever it was she had in her mouth.

Lastly, there was a masked man. I recognized the mask being from Japanese folklore. Some kind of demon or something. That was the only colourful thing on him as his clothing consisted of a black overall strapped around him.

After I'd analysed all the people here, I looked back at their leader, still a bit dazed. "I'm sorry. Headmaster Kubo didn't give me any names, so I have no idea who you are."

The leader threw his head back again and laughed even louder. He seemed to be the only one seeing the humour in this situation. The others didn't even flinch, while the leader wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with his gloved fingers.

"Typical" he sighed when done. "Well, my dear lady-friend, I'd love to introduce you to the crew, but I assume dear Kubo is waiting for us, so I you'll just have to do with the name we use when in business. If that's alright with you?"

It was actually shocking how polite this man was to me considering what would happen a few days later. And the fact that he arrived on a flying squid.

If I were to answer honestly, I'd tell him I didn't give a rat's ass what their names were. All I really wanted was to get out of here as soon as possible, but guess what? I just met the core people of this whole plan, so escaping was no option any longer.

"Of course" I said, and even dared to smile a little. From the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw the masked man lift his head. It startled me a little. Was smiling something impolite in the land they came from?

"Great" the leader said, and stepped aside. He did a swift pirouette, and I could swear his coat turned into black smoke at that moment, while dramatically spreading his arms. "Then let me introduce you to the Squid Squad. I know, terrible name. I voted for the 'Seven Generals of Destruction', but we wanted to include Lucy in this whole thing. I mean, there's seven of us and one of her, and while we pretty much do all the field work, but seven is more of a lucky number and we're more of…the unlucky, if you know what I mean."

I had no idea what he was talking about. I stopped listening after he said the giant flying squid was named 'Lucy'.

The leader sighed again, dropping his arms. "Now that we all know each other…tell Kubo his...'friends' are here."

Blinking a few times, still taking it all in, I nodded. "This way."

The leader clapped his gloved hands together. "Lovely. Alright, sweetie. See you laters!"

I didn't have to turn around to know he was talking to 'Lucy'.

While leading the 'Squid Squad' down the empty halls of the school, I tried to figure out what the next step of the plan would be. Kubo only informed me later on, when we were already half way the next step, so I mostly had to figure things out myself.

It was obvious these people came from the same place as mister Redfox. The whole atmosphere around them was enough to get to that conclusion. And their clothing…

Although the leader of the group was more polite to me than mister Redfox, I didn't like him. At least mister Redfox came here with good intentions. When the school was still open, I heard stories about mister Redfox every day. Even students whom he'd never had thought he was the best around. Ever since his arrival, the school became more lively than ever. All the while he never seemed to put in even that much effort.

I would often bump into him in the teacher's cafeteria, and I'd always see him being grumpy. But one day during lunch break, I found him sitting at a table in the corner with a bunch of papers lying around. He would hold up each paper in front of his face, his eyes squinting. Maybe it was the student's handwriting which was bad, but it could also be his reading abilities. After he'd finished reading each paper, a slight grin would light up his grumpy face. He continued to read every paper, and each time, he smiled.

Despite the secret meetings he had with the headmaster and the schemes that were going on behind the scenes, at that moment I really respected mister Redfox. He wasn't laughing at the students' homework, it looked more like recognition. Of course, the children at MSM were all special, and they only had each other who understood their situation. For there to be an adult, or perhaps just someone older than they were, to understand what they were going through, would help all these children a lot.

I thought about all of that as I continued to lead these 'generals' to Kubo's office. In those days when all the children were gone, I'd sometimes still hear the voices shout 'Miss Rikugo', followed by swift footsteps and a bunch of papers following.

When I first came here, I despised all the kids here. But when they were gone, I found out how much I actually cared about all of them. I had no younger siblings, but I guessed this was what it felt like to be a big sister.

"Here you go" I said, as I opened the door to Kubo's office. Each of the strange people entered, while I kept my head bowed. It was the only time I was lucky not having to be present at any of Kubo's meetings, because I really needed that bottle of wine I still had in my fridge.

The last one to enter was the masked man. I almost let go of the door when he passed me, because he handed me a small paper.

I looked up, but he'd already entered the office. Closing the door behind me, I unfolded the small note. There were only three words written on it, but they spoke for a thousand.

 _Our Glory Days._


	35. Chapter 35: Our Glory Days - Part 2

**As always, I am sorry for the delay. For those who've read other stories of mine, you know that a two month break nothing is compared to six. True story, sadly.**

 **No empty promises here. I'll see when I have time to write, and you'll see when the website sends you an email saying 'yo new chaps up boi' and you'll be like 'damn hell yeah boi'**

 **(Disclaimer: My friend thinks he's gangster and I think we shouldn't be friends but we are. His name is Tim)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 35: Our Glory Days – Part 2_

 **Ten years ago**

 **Kuchiha Rikugou**

 **12 years old**

It was the first day of school, after what seemed like the most normal summer of my life. In the small village I lived in, all that ever happened was the normal gossiping and summer festivals, nothing out of the ordinary.

Until just a few weeks after the season, on a particular sunny morning, a house had appeared which hadn't been there before.

I noticed when I crossed the town square together with my mother, who brought me to school.

In the middle of the square stood a fountain, which I always sat at during break of school. I liked that spot, because I could see everything surrounding the town. I wasn't very tall myself.

There was this one particular hill which peeked above the houses. The green mass looked like a pimple, when in reality it was a couple miles away. I saw that hill every single day, so I would see the slightest change immediately.

So on the first day of school, I saw that there was a house on top of the pimple. It looked more like a small shed, but I couldn't really tell because of the distance. I thought that I maybe hadn't noticed before because I hadn't been paying attention all that much to the hill itself, because there was no school during summer and I wasn't around the town square all the time. Yet I still knew it had appeared out of nowhere.

All the 'strange' things that occurred in and around town were always common knowledge within an hour. Everyone gossiped and whispered when the local baker turned out to have mice in his workshop, for example.

Yet no one had talked about the new house on top of the hill yet. It was normal for the children to learn the news just a little later than the adults.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Who lives there?"

My mother looked up to where I was pointing, and I saw her face make strange expressions. She tightened the grip around my hand, and dragged me with her.

"You're too curious, Kuchiha."

I could tell my mother was pissed, because I had seen something strange before she'd even had the chance to talk it over with another adult.

It was a shame I had to go to school. I wanted to go explore that new house on top of the hill.

During class I couldn't concentrate and mostly kept my eyes on my notebook, in which I drew my own version of the strange shed, and made a list of things that could be inside of it. The list ranged from dragon eggs to mysterious treasures.

The only time I looked up was when there was a knock on the door of the classroom. It mostly meant the principal was about to announce something, so all of us already got out of our chairs to pay our respects.

The teacher bowed his head and walked over to the door to open. It was indeed the principal, and we all bowed forward.

"Everyone" he said, which meant we were allowed to stand up straight again. We could sit down again after he'd left. "I'd like you all to welcome your newest class member. I introduce you to Ravin Crow."

The principal hadn't entered the classroom, but stood still on the doorstep. Now, he stepped aside to reveal someone standing behind him. It was a boy around my age, although he could be older. He had black hair which covered half his face, a sharp nose, and a skinny posture. He kept his head bowed, not out of respect though.

After I'd taken a good look at the boy, I started wondering why the principal brought him. I mean, I understood that this boy was new in town, but when someone new is brought to this school it's mostly a teacher who shows him around. Not the principal.

He didn't look like a rich kid to me. His uniform was also very unorganized. He didn't have his shirt in his pants and his tie hung loosely around his neck. So that couldn't be it.

"Mister Crow" the principal said, and then bowed. He bowed. The principal.

It was all very strange to me. I glanced around the room in the hopes of locking eyes with someone who thought the same as me, but to my surprise, no one seemed bothered. Everyone just stood beside their tables, watching as if it was a normal scene which played in front of us.

But I knew it wasn't.

"Dismissed" the principal than said, which was the sign we could all sit down. Our teacher pointed at an empty table, and Ravin sat down. There was one row of tables between the two of us, but that didn't stop me from looking at him. I had to basically lay my head on the table to see, and still had trouble because of his hairstyle.

I'm not sure what I was trying to accomplish by just looking. Perhaps I hoped to find out what was so special about him. And if there was a connection with the sudden appearance of a new house on top of the green pimple.

During lunch break I decided to keep an eye on Ravin from a distance. My classmates didn't really seem to care that he was around. They pretty much ignored him, so he stood alone at the town square, which was in front of our school. Normally, I would sit on the ledge of the fountain, but if I did that now I'd get too close to him, which also wasn't good. So I watched from a distance.

The first thing I thought was that he had a weird lunchbox. He sat on the ground, legs crossed, back against the wall and the lunch box resting on one knee. It looked like a block of wood. His food was also strange. The things he ate looked like bread, but were just a little too _fluid_ to be just that.

After school, when my mother came to get me, I wondered if I could ask her if she could tell me anything about the house. In exchange, I would tell her about the new boy which was brought by the principal. It seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

"There's a new boy at school" I said, knowing that would trigger the gossip queen inside of her. For the latest news, people would always go to my mother.

"Really? What's his name? Where is he from?"

"Something with Crow. He didn't say where he's from, but he was brought by the principal."

I expected that soon after this conversation, the whole town would be talking about the new house and the ones living there, but nothing happened. The day after, I asked my mother about it, and she answered vaguely. As if she had no idea what I was talking about. When I brought up the strange new house, she looked at me as if I was crazy.

This was a thing she used to do a lot; pretending something didn't happen, so it didn't happen. It angered me, especially because I had helped her with a gossip, a subject to talk about during her pathetic trips to the small shop and back.

But I didn't give up. If I couldn't get to know more about the strange things happening through my mother, I'd find out myself. I continued to watch Ravin every lunchbreak and during class. He never spoke, never answered. The teachers never asked him anything, and none of my classmates ever stroke up a conversation with him.

At twelve years old, I thought I was losing my mind. This boy existed, yet no one, besides myself, acknowledged that.

I didn't have many friends at school, or anywhere else, and I wasn't the kind of kid that socialized a lot. I loved to read books, draw and fantasize about anything. I was mostly on my own, which was just fine.

But it also meant I had no idea how to approach someone, or even greet them properly.

I tried to walk up to him many times, but each time I turned around half way. Something inside me said I shouldn't do it. I really wanted to know, yet some voice said I'd better not. It came to a point where I started to wonder if it maybe wasn't my fear speaking, but something else.

The same thing that kept everyone in town uninterested in something which should be whispered about.

I think the turning point in my investigation came when he looked straight at me. Ravin would always keep his head bowed, face hidden, but that one time was different.

It was one of my many attempts to approach him. This time I got closer than other times, and he lifted his head as if I'd just stepped on his fingers, although I was still a few feet away.

It was almost as if I'd broken through something.

His eyes were black. That was the first thing I noticed. Next was his mouth. It was a small stripe, one a pen can make. And, of course, his pointy nose, which almost looked like a bird's beak, which I thought was sad since his last name was Crow.

As soon as we'd locked eyes, I froze. For thirty seconds, all we did was look. And I swear that at that moment, the wind started attacking me. It blew my skirt upwards a little, pulled my hair and slapped me in the face.

It was obvious I'd taken a step in the right direction.

That same day I told my mother that I'd come to the conclusion that I was old enough to walk to school and back on my own. She sat at the kitchen table, reading a magazine, and looked up. Her eyes went from my white socks to my messy ponytail, which I'd desperately tried to fix after the breeze attack.

"Are you certain about this?" she asked. I don't think she was really asking, but more thinking to herself that I was growing up so fast.

I nodded, and hoped I didn't look too eager. "Yes."

And so I opened up an opportunity to stalk Ravin outside of school hours. The first day walking home alone, I made sure not to lose sight of him. I'd already made the conclusion to not get too close, because he'd notice. Not because a normal human being would notice when being followed, but because I would trigger something that would make him look, like that time before, at school.

I was convinced he would walk straight towards the house on the pimple. For that, he would have to go to the outskirts of town, take the path that goes through the thick forest and then walk up the hill.

But after a few minutes I knew I was wrong. He walked into the city centre, where the fruit market always takes place. It was Thursday, so there was no market and the city centre was kind of empty.

I started asking questions to myself. What if he was just a normal guy? And not the son of a legendary wizard that lives inside a tiny shed on top of a hill? Maybe he isn't a werewolf, or a vampire, or whatever else you can think of to fantasize about.

Ravin strolled across the pavement and didn't seem to be in a hurry, which made me impatient. I had this feeling that if I didn't find the answers to my questions today, my head would explode. And I also had to be home on time, otherwise my mother would go look for me and I would be in huge trouble.

Ravin suddenly went around a corner. I wasn't that familiar with this part of town, and it made me kind of nervous, not knowing what to expect.

I went around the corner, and froze. Ravin stood not far away from me, still out of range, but close enough. He looked at me with his dark eyes, enough to make shivers go down my spine.

"Why are you following me?"


	36. Chapter 36: Our Glory Days - Part 3

**Whaaat yes another upload how is this possibru...**

 **(Disclaimer: I worked kinda long on this)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _C_ _hapter 36: Our Glory Days – Part 3_

 **Twelve years ago.**

 **Kuchiha Rikugou.**

 **12 years old.**

I was surprised by the sound of his voice. It was very soft, and he really sounded very young. He walked around as if he knew the world and everything in and on it, yet he talked like a new born. Alright, maybe that is an exaggeration.

"I…I…" was all I could say. I licked my lips, and told myself I should calm down. "Do you live in the new house?"

He frowned a little, which made his face look funny. "The new house? What do you mean?"

I started to regain some strength and confidence, which I think I got from my mother. She was very good in tricking people into believing everything that came out of her mouth was the truth.

"The house on top of the hill. It wasn't there before. Now it is. And you're here, too. And the principal brought you into class. Why?"

I thought I was explaining it pretty clear, but Ravin seemed to only get more and more confused. "Wait…so, you're not part of…you know…"

"Uhm, no? I mean, I'm in your class. I don't do any sport, and I'm also not a member of a club or anything. I am a Rikugou, but my family didn't really do anything."

This was the most messy conversation I would ever have, yet these few sentences seemed to help Ravin understand what was going on.

"You have no idea, do you?"

I opened my mouth to snap back, but then figured I should maybe adjust my strategy a little. "I do. But I'm asking if you do."

Ravin turned his head a little to the side, as if a different angle would shine a different light on the situation. It didn't. "Why, though?"

"What?"

"Lot of stuff you don't know about, yet it has a lot to do with you."

"Can you be more specific?"

You thought this was weird. Wait till you visualize this; Ravin _laughed_. And it had a nice sound too. I don't think I can find the words to describe it, so I think we're gonna have to let go of that visualizing idea.

"What is going on?" I said, in the hopes of putting more pressure on him. Not that I could do anything if he didn't tell me. His smile did disappear.

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to" he said. "But I got an idea. Meet me tomorrow before school, and I'll explain it all."

He then turned around, and I felt I was losing my advantage.

"Tomorrow?" I said, and I did nothing to hide my disappointment. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Yes, tomorrow. It'll be worth the wait, trust me."

Then he walked away. I was a bit too nervous about the strange wind that came when I got too close to him, so I stayed where I was. I wanted to go after him, but knew my mother was probably already pissed at me for staying out so late. I probably had to do the dishes or something, as punishment.

My mother didn't ask when I came home, but ignored me, which is even worse. My father didn't even need to pretend not to see me; he wouldn't normally care if I was home or not. It's been like that ever since he found that the baby growing inside my mother's belly (me) wasn't a boy.

I couldn't sleep that night. I found myself staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars at my ceiling, and watched them slowly fade out. The darkness never made me feel so safe.

It may have been a good thing that I couldn't see the hill from my room, otherwise I would be staring out the window the entire night.

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep. I woke up late, washed my face, got dressed, and left. I was too nervous to eat anyways.

Ravin was already waiting for me by the fountain. The morning sun shone on his black hair and almost made it look like glass. When I got close enough, he knew I was there, just like the day before. He turned his head to look at me. He didn't seem particularly pleased to see me or anything, and I almost felt like we were business partners and about to make a big deal which would profit both our companies.

I liked to tell stories.

"Morning" I said when I reached the maximum distance. He just slightly nodded, and then turned his head again. I blinked. It almost looked like he didn't know who I was. Or didn't know we met yesterday.

"Uhm, Ravin?" I said, in an attempt to get his attention. He turned around again and looked again. Now, he stared at me while slightly shaking his head. That scared me.

Next, he was moving his eyes towards a small alley, which looked similar to where we met yesterday. I understood, and headed over there.

I waited around the corner, and looked at my watch. School would soon start. Whatever it was that had to be so secret, he better spill it fast, or we'd be late and our parents would be called, which was the last thing I needed.

I suddenly felt a hand around my arm. Black hair awed across my cheek, and I got very confused. How could he get that close to me?

"Just a little further. They won't hear us there."

He basically pushed me further into the shady alley, with more questions rising with every step I took. I kept my mouth shut until he let go of me. "What is going on?"

Ravin was still very close, and I just couldn't understand it. He glanced around again, before talking.

"Look, this is gonna sound weird, but while I'm in the sunlight, they're able to hear everything that happens."

I felt the world shifting under my feet. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten, or it was all just very dazzling. "Who is 'they'?"

Ravin breathed in through his sharp nose. "It's complicated. Short version; everything you know is a lie. All these people around us are not real. To them, I am an illusion as well. Someone they don't notice. The reason you're the only one noticing me, is because you are the key to breaking this illusion."

After that, I blacked out. I fell to the ground, hit it hard.

When I woke up, the first thing I thought was that I missed school because it was dark. Slowly but surely, all the details of the short conversations I'd had with Ravin came back to me. And as soon as I'd listed them all down, I wanted to go asleep again, wishing all of it was fake.

And in some way, it was.

"I know you're awake, Rikugou."

Ravin's soft voice. I cleared my throat, and felt tears boiling up. "What time is it?"

A snicker. "Don't be dramatic. It's only been a minute."

I sat up on whatever I was lying on. A bed, I assumed. "Where are we?"

"Don't be like that. Open your damn eyes."

I blinked, and suddenly felt the hardness of the surface I lay on. The stones of the alleyway, which was very confusing. "How…"

"What?"

I looked up. Ravin was really close, and even leaned forward a bit. He stared into my eyes as if I was a crazy person. Then he seemed to shiver. "It's you for real, huh?"

If I hadn't been that confused, I would've surely pushed him off of me. He got too close. What if someone saw us and would tell my mother…?

Ravin stood up. "On your feet. We're already late for school."

For some reason, this made me angry. I put this whole mystery before anything else, and he thought he could push it farther even more. I jumped up, flattened my skirt with my hands and then placed them on my hips, the way I saw the lady in the bookstore do when her husband had fallen asleep behind the counter again.

"Forget about school! Just tell me what this is all about."

Ravin had already started walking, but stopped just before the shadow of the alleyway ended. He glanced over his shoulder with a grim smile. "I just did. You were the one wasting time by lying on the ground."

I felt my cheeks slowly turning red. "I…that's not fair. That story of yours-"

"You go to church, right?"

I frowned. "Yes…but what does that have to do with it?"

"What did you see when you blacked out?"

At this point I crossed my arms because I wasn't feeling that confident anymore. "Nothing…but I did feel…I thought I was lying in a bed."

I thought I saw Ravin's eyes widen for a second, but it was gone as soon as I noticed. "So you felt something different?"

I nodded slowly, suddenly scared that everything was about to make sense. A part of me wanted to go along with everything Ravin said. Believe that this life I led had a meaning, but I wondered if I could handle the truth.

Ravin took a few steps back into the alleyway. "What you felt then, is the truth. When I told you about it, your mind somehow got….triggered. You were able to leave this place for a minute."

He spoke slowly, which I appreciated. I felt like I had to take notes in my head, and write an essay for every word he spoke. Or maybe he was afraid I couldn't handle it again. "You were still helpless in there…but I think I can help you wake up on the other side. That way….you might find a way to break this curse."

I gulped. _Curse_. He hadn't used that word before, and it scared me. This phrase suggested so many things. Mostly magic. Magic had always been the one thing I wished for. It was finally here. Not in the way I wanted it to come to me.

"How?" I asked. It hit me that I didn't know anything about Ravin. This could all just be a lie. He was just someone who came to our town one day. "How are you going to help me do that?"

Ravin raised one eyebrow, the one that didn't disappear under his hair. "I see. You don't trust me, huh?"

I shrugged. "Why should I? I don't know you. And you just said you were an illusion yourself."

"Not really. I'm just…well, a glitch, you could say. To get in here, I had to pretend I was one of them. But now they've already forgotten. Everyone but you, of course."

"Where are you from?"

Ravin seemed to get a little annoyed at my questioning, but I wouldn't blame me for doing it. "I'll tell you about it later-"

"I don't think so. If you don't tell me, I won't break this curse."

He snickered humourlessly. "Really? You're gonna use _that_ as leverage on me? So you'd rather live a life stuck in here instead of…." He abruptly stopped speaking, and bowed his head. It seemed like he almost said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Instead of what?" I said, seeing my chance in his mistakes. "If I don't know what my life is like _on the other side_ , I don't have any reason to help you."

"You're not helping me. You're helping lots of people, including yourself."

"Are there more people like me, then? Who are stuck in here?"

"Exactly. It would be selfish to stay here."

"Or you could just say that to get me on your side."

Ravin rolled his eyes, and it was the first time I saw his calm demeanour break. It was clear to me he was still hiding things from me, which was annoying. We were annoying each other. It was also clear to me that staying in this alleyway wasn't going to solve anything.

"Fine" I said. "Let's meet after school."


	37. Chapter 37: Our Glory Days - Part 4

**Yes, I know, it's been too long, I'm sorry, happy new year, plz don't hate me. I'm tryin**

 **(Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 37: Our Glory Days – Part 4_

 **Eight years ago**

 **Kuchiha Rikugou**

 **16 years old.**

After the first time meeting Ravin after school, we started something which would last for at least the next six years. We would meet in the alleyway and make our way to the park, which was a bit on the outside of town. Here, in the shadows of the trees, we would practice.

I would lay down on the ground and Ravin would start talking. He would always talk about 'the truth', and then I'd fall asleep. Or rather; I'd wake up. Each time we did this, I was able to stay on the other side a little longer. I would also observe more with every of the five senses; soon I was able to open my eyes for a few seconds. I would always see these weird lights, sometimes shadows. I assumed I lay in some hospital or something, because it smelled like it. Ravin said it could be something along those lines.

Although we spend an hour every day together, Ravin never let any information slip about himself. I had no idea where he came from (yeah, from the other side, of course, but no specifics), if he had any family, what his hobby's where or his favourite book to read. But despite not knowing anything about him, I still didn't mind spending time with him. It took us some time to warm up to one another, but soon we could joke around together. Despite not being from here, Ravin could laugh about the jokes I told him, and when he didn't understand something in the story he would ask. I was kind of excited to tell him all the things I knew, and often said we just had to go to town together, because I knew where all the right shops were.

"I don't think your mother will appreciate that" he'd said. We sat in the shadows of the trees again, after practice. I leaned against the wood and shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't care, she's not my mother anyway, right?"

After Ravin had told me the truth, I started to see everything around me differently and cared less about what other people thought. The words my 'mother' spat at me didn't hurt any longer and the bad grades I got in school were nothing but stupid numbers without any meaning.

Still, Ravin somehow looked worried about that. "You sure you feel that way?"

I nodded. And then I started crying, because I was scared. I couldn't keep that idea up for long, but I knew that deep down that was really how I felt. She wasn't my mother. These people around me weren't my friends.

"I'm sorry" I'd sobbed. Ravin just grinned.

"That's alright. I still think you're doing great so far."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, not everybody takes the news that everything and everyone they know is fake as well as you do."

That was before everything started changing, because whomever had me trapped inside the illusion found out something was wrong. Ravin said that whenever we were together in bright daylight, they were able to see us. In the shadows, those chances were smaller. It wasn't completely safe.

I knew it the moment I saw Ravin wasn't in class. He'd made himself become part of the illusion, so there was no way he could've gotten sick. He wasn't able to get sick.

The entire day I was either looking at the school gates, the classroom door, or his table, hoping that he'd magically appear somehow. I was also looking at the clock, wishing this stupid school day illusion would soon be over. At some point, I just had enough of it. All of it wasn't even real, right?

"Mister Gerard? Can I go to the restroom?"

I ran away through the front gate. I didn't care if anyone saw me. Something was wrong and I needed to find out what.

I had no idea where to look. I could go up to the wooden house on top of the hill, but that would be too obvious. I went to our spot at the park, but he wasn't there either. I ran around town, felt my legs getting sour, but I couldn't stop looking. At some point, I bumped my toe against an uneven stone in the pavement and fell flat down on my face. I had no time to feel pain. Ravin was gone. My friend, my only friend, my only _real_ friend.

It was getting dark, which meant my illusion mother would send my illusion father out to look for me, if she hadn't already heard from school that I ran away.

Some of the villagers called my name when I passed them, but I tried to ignore it. I was afraid that if I stopped I would get sucked back asleep, while all the time I'd tried so hard to wake up.

Eventually, when the moon had already been up for a couple hours, I fell down near the fountain on the town square. I felt like crying. It was as if all the hard work we'd put in had all been for nothing.

"Kuchiha?"

I looked up from the uneven stones of the town square. A shadow stood before me. Some guy, little taller than me, messy haircut, sharp nose.

"Where the hell have you been?!"

I rose to my feet, and immediately fell down again. Ravin was able to catch me just before I hit the ground, but I did scrape my knees. It was then that I noticed my toes were bleeding.

"What the hell happened to you?" was all Ravin could ask as he carefully helped me to sit down.

"You were gone. That's what happened."

In the light of the moon I could see his dark eyes widen. "Seriously?"

"What do you mean, 'seriously'? You weren't in class, you weren't anywhere!"

"Yeah, I get that, but…" He scratched behind his ear, as if he couldn't find the words to explain it. "I had to fill in a status report to my bosses. I do this every now and then…but you never notice."

"What?"

Ravin nodded. "Yeah. Crazy. But this is a good thing. It means you're setting loose from this world."

I threw my head back and sighed. My breathing shook. I was starting to feel the pain in my feet. Real pain.

"Are you OK?" Ravin's voice seemed to come from far away. I felt I was slipping away.

"My feet…" I said.

"We're almost there."

"That's cool and all…but promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"Don't leave like that ever again."

I forgot to ask what the report was about.

 **Six years ago**

 **Kuchiha Rikugou**

 **18 years old**

As we continued to practiced, I was able to feel more and more pain. Ravin said those came from 'the other side'. The people that captured me here were doing things to me there. Basically, I was living inside a nightmare. All the more reason to wake up.

My fake parents didn't believe me when I told them about the pain. I would literally be bleeding from every hole in my face and they still forced me to go to school. They were programmed to be like that. They didn't see me at all.

When I told Ravin about this, he said he would look if there was anything he could do, but his bosses were as cold as ice. They couldn't (or wouldn't ) help me any further. I had to do it on my own.

All of that was happening on the background, because I was still in high school. And prom night was coming up. Ever since Ravin stepped into my life, I stopped caring. I had no other friends, my grades were terribly low and I ignored my fake parents entirely, especially after they didn't seem to care either (see previous paragraph).

Ravin, on the other hand, seemed to care a lot about my 'high school experience'. One afternoon, after we were done practicing (I was able to sit up straight in the hospital bed, but barely saw anything) Ravin brought it up once again.

"You going to prom?"

I had shrugged. "I told you; I'm not."

I rubbed over my knees, which started hurting since the night before. I felt like an old lady.

"I'll be willing to go with you, if you want?"

I tried my best not to feel flattered, but there was no denying it: it was very cute. "No thank you."

Ravin sighed. "Oh well. That's a shame. I'd just gotten an arrangement done with my bosses."

I frowned. "What? When?"

"Last night. They might be able to help you with your pain."

It shocked me so much I could barely breathe. "For real?"

Ravin nodded. "Yup." He reached behind him to his back pack. "And I got it right here."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Give it to me."

Ravin grinned, a teasingly grin. He barely ever grinned. "Promise me you'll go to prom with me."

"Seriously? You're going to use my pain to black mail me?!"

Ravin kept his mouth shut and just kept looking. I was too tired to get angry, so I said yes.

"Great! I'll pick you up at eight. And don't worry, I was gonna give it to you anyway."

And so it came to be that Ravin knocked on the door of my parent's house on Friday at eight o'clock precisely. My fake mother gave me some weird looks when Ravin entered, but I thought he looked alright. He had his long hair put in some kind of low bun, which made him look older. He wore a black suit with a tie, and he almost seemed alien to me. I was used to seeing him in his school uniform, or otherwise his baggy clothes. This suit showed that he had more muscle than I first thought. Wide shoulders, thick upper arms.

He looked amazing. I didn't. I wore this old dress I found lying around somewhere in the attic. Even my fake mother didn't seem to recognize it. It had this weird blue colour, as if someone dripped tea all over it. I put my hair in this weird braid over my shoulder. I'd stolen some mascara from my mother's cabinet. I'd never worn makeup and I had to keep reminding myself not to rub my eyes.

Ravin had given me the medicine for my pain. It would last only for tonight, and when it wore out the pain would probably be twice as much. But at least I would be able to sleep. And maybe have a good time at prom.

The medicine was this weird looking brown liquid. It smelled like dirt and tasted like how I always imagined grass would. I felt free after it kicked in.

"You look great" Ravin said, because that's what you're supposed to say to your date when you go pick her up.

We said goodbye to my fake parents, who didn't even take a fake picture. It wasn't a cold night, but we still walked close to one another. I kept staring at my feet, which felt so weird. As if I was walking around with cushions in my shoes.

"Feeling alright?" Ravin asked eventually. I looked up, and my face felt weird. I was smiling.

"I feel awesome. I feel like….running. Come on, we'll run."

"But….you'll get all sweaty and your dress might get ripped-"

"I don't care!" I let go of Ravin's arm and kicked off my shoes. I never felt more alive in this stupid fake world. I jumped around the fountain on the town square, sang songs as if I was drunk, danced.

Eventually, Ravin joined in on the fun. He took my hands and spun me around like a plush toy. I felt awesome. I tripped over my own feet, and like always, Ravin was there to catch me.

"What the hell was in that drink?" I asked him. He grinned.

"I don't know. But we better hurry up, otherwise we'll miss the dance."


	38. Chapter 38: No More Hope

**I know, I know, still working on getting back on schedule. College is a busy but fun place.**

 **(disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail)**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

 _Chapter 38: No more hope_

 **Jake**

"And here we are" Samdy mumbled.

As we stood on the stairs of our own school, a mixed feeling of nostalgia and fear came of us. We hadn't been gone for that long, yet it felt like ages. The whole trip back was worst kind of torture I'd ever experienced.

Just like on the way to Lux a week back, I had to help Rider get the ship through the barrier. A magical barrier, or as Rider called it 'a shortcut'. After we'd reached the haven back at our own town, the blue haired pirate offered to come with us to the school. We kindly declined. This was something we had to do.

Fearing for what happened to their families, most of my classmates just wanted to get back to the school as soon as possible, but not me. I just couldn't stop wondering where the families were supposed to be. Sure, they were threatened by Kubo and his little helper, and probably some other stronger mages, but how could we be sure they did have that power over us? Were our families held hostage inside the school, or was all of it just a bluff? Where our families still safe and sound at home, with an invisible gun against the back of their heads?

It all seemed a bit sketchy to me, but I kept it to myself. After finally convincing Samdy to tag along, I didn't want to cause any more doubts about this whole thing. Most of us had already accepted the fact that we were about to die, giving them hope that all of this might just be nothing more than a hoax and by that giving them hope would be sadistic.

"So, what do we do?" Samdy said as we approached the giant wooden door. It was a stupid question. No one knew what to do. It wasn't as if Kuchiha would be waiting for us at the other side, if she was even still here. It didn't see like anyone was here. Perhaps Kubo had sent everyone home for the day. Or forever.

We were the most powerful group of students. He only needed us. We were here. Where was he?

Layton eventually sighed. "Let's just get it over with."

He pushed open the door and walked in first. We were all a bit surprised by this. Layton didn't seem to care about anything anymore.

Lily followed him, and soon after everyone walked inside the building which had been our home for three great years. The big halls of the school which always kept us safe from the outside now seemed to look down on us. We were mere rats in a giant maze of cruel games.

"Guess we'll head to his office?" Martin mumbled. There were some distant nods here and there, but before we could take a step a bell rang. Normally it was a signal for an announcement, like the twins being late for class or something. But now it started with a weird kind of laughter. I recognized the voice immediately.

"Well hello, children" said El Paso. "How delightful of you to pleasure us with your presence. Go ahead and move yourselves to your rooms, my assistants will brief you shortly."

We eyed one another. There was no way we would separate now. If we stuck together, we might have a chance to overpower Kubo and El Paso. Yet something told me that his 'assistants' weren't just people. They could be mages, like Gajeel.

"Go along, now" El Paso warned. Layton sighed again and started walking away from the group, towards the boy's dorm. I did not like this at all. Samdy grunted.

"Ok, let's just….stick together, boys and girls. We'll figure something out. Does anyone have their cell on them?"

We weren't allowed to bring our phones to boot camp, but I suspected some of my classmates of validating that rule. Rose indeed nodded.

"Ok, we'll just…keep in touch." Samdy seemed to panic. He was the opposite of Layton.

We awkwardly said goodbye to the girls, hugs were shared and tears shed, stuff like that. We didn't know what else to do.

We walked to the boy's dorm in utter silence. When we finally entered the common room, Layton was sitting on the couch, staring at a black television screen. He didn't look up.

Martin went up to his room, mumbling something about calling family. Like hell he would.

Samdy, Ibisan and the twins crashed down beside Layton. Kai and I were the only ones still standing by the entrance.

Then it hit me.

"Holy shit…."

All heads present turned around to look at me. "What now?"

Their curious voices seemed to come from far away, as I was already thinking of three different strategies to get us out of here. There was a chance for us.

I started walking around in circles, thinking of the things I needed. I still had some books in my room which had some useful stuff in it. As long as we had to stay put, I could study some new spells to make this plan work.

"Wait" I said out loud, apparently. There was a hole in the plan. It wouldn't save all of us. People were going to die.

I think Layton saw the excitement in my face slowly fade away. "What's wrong?"

"Besides everything" Samdy grumbled.

No. I had to try.

I grabbed Kai's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "Look, what I'm about to tell you….I'm sorry, ok. I really am. But there's something….wait, how do I say this….Samdy, you got a phone?"

Samdy frowned at me. Layton elbowed him on the shoulder, and finally Sam grabbed his damn phone.

"Call Tilly. No, wait, text her. Just to be sure."

Samdy's frown grew even deeper, but Layton knew exactly why I said that. I think he could even guess what I was planning. It was very complex, but I had to try.

"Well, what do I say?" Samdy said, looking at his phone.

 **Martin**

I heard some excitement in the common room, but I expected it just to be some stupid jokes of the twins. Something to do while our final hours were ticking away.

I sat on my bed with my phone in my hand. There was no signal, but I didn't mind. No one would pick up anyway.

There were just some pictures I had of my grandma. She didn't deserve a grandson like me. Some freak who's freakiness would be used to do bad things. A stupid boy who trusts anyone without thinking twice.

Suddenly, the door to my room opened and the twins stormed in. I quickly hid my phone under my blanket.

"Martin, come quick" said Floyd. Greg frowned.

"What were you doing in here?"

I quickly stood up. "Nothing. Leave me alone."

"No, this is serious. Jake's got a plan."

For a moment, I had hope. But Jake always had a plan. And not all his plans were that good. I sat back down. "I'm sure he does."

"Dude, you could at least listen to what he has to say-"

I sighed. "No, thank you. I prefer to just sit here and wait, instead of conspire something that could make this whole situation even worse."

The twins looked at one another, and I saw their brains connecting like only twins do. "Look, we could bet on it-"

We were interrupted by the bell that signalled a new announcement. My heart made a jump. This was it.

"Hello, children. Here is a short message for…let's see…Martin?"

I heard some shouting coming from the common room. The twins both got as pale as sheets.

"Oh shit" they synchronised. I swallowed a lump down my throat. Shit indeed.

Hasty footsteps went up the stairs. Jake pushed aside the twins to enter the room. "Don't go, man."

I chuckled. "Shut up. There's nothing we can do about it."

"Martin, one of our employees will wait for you in the cafeteria" Paco continued. "Please get your ass over there, please."

I stood up from my bed again, but before I could take a step Jake dashed towards me and pushed me back. "Listen. Just listen, ok?"

"Shut up, Jake. I gotta go, otherwise they'll-"

"Remember the whole thing with Kai?"

I frowned. "Wha…what does that have to do with anything?"

Jake grinned mysteriously. "Everything. Look, the thing I have in mind is very complicated, but it will work. I need your help for it to work."

It seemed I wasn't getting out of here very soon, and it was starting to annoy me. I tried to exit the room, but Jake blocked me. I sighed. "Seriously, man. I'm done. Just…let me go."

Jake shook his head slowly. "No can do."

He lifted his hand and spread out his fingers. I recognized this move.

"You dick-" was all I could say before I lost consciousness.

 **Samdy**

The ringtone of my phone sounded. We all got up quickly.

"What does she say?" Jake asked. I squinted my eyes at the screen of my cell.

"Can't wait any longer. Gotta go now" I read out loud. Ten minutes had passed since Jake had put Martin asleep, which was kind of creepy. Jake did it with such ease, as if he'd done it a million times.

I realized then there were a lot of things I didn't know about Jake's magical powers. He suddenly got all these books out of his room, books in languages I couldn't read. One was in English and it said something about dark magic.

"She's right" Jake said as response to the text on my cell. "Let her in."

Greg, who stood next to the door to our dorm, nodded. He opened up, but there was nobody on the other side. Well, not someone visible to us.

We could hear slight footsteps and I could feel the air shifting as Tilly walked past me. As soon as Greg closed the door, our classmate appeared before us. She sighed. "Ok, what next?"

Kai stepped forward. "Make me ugly."

Tilly frowned. "That's kinda mean, you know."

She lifted her arms in front of Kai's face and closed her eyes. She went into deep concentration, her fingers started shaking, and slowly but surely Kai's face started to transform. In about thirty seconds an almost exact look-a-like of Martin stood before us. Kai blinked.

"How do I look?"

The twins both giggled. "As if you two were brothers."

Tilly opened her eyes and looked at her own work. Her forehead was covered in sweat.

"You sure you can hold it for that long?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, it's fine. It's only the way up there I'm worried about."

Jake lay a hand on her shoulder. "I'll try to support you somehow." Then he eyed each and every one of us. "As soon as it goes down, head for the girls and wait for us in the green house. Let Caroline work her magic. If we're not there in fifteen minutes, head for the hostages and get the hell out of here. Clear?"

"Crystal" Layton said, crossing his arms. He seemed more confident about this than before. Jake nodded and looked at Tilly.

"Let's get going."

Tilly took a deep breath and took Jakes hand in hers. They slowly started to disappear until we couldn't see them anymore. Kai, in Martin's face, headed for the door and first let the invisible through. When he closed the door behind him, the tension in the room rose. Something big was about to go down. There were so many things that could go wrong.

I sat back down on the couch with my phone still in my hands. My thumb wavered above Sasha's name in my contacts list.

"Don't" said Layton, who suddenly stood behind me. "We've already risked too much. They could be watching."

I snickered. "Then what's the point of this whole plan if they already know?"

He shrugged. "At least we've a plan."


	39. Chapter 39: Nobody knows anything

**I'm trying. Enjoy ;)**

 _Chapter 39: Nobody knows anything_

 **Sasha**

My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I tried to calm myself down by playing a game on my phone, but the puzzle game only made me more nervous. I would often check if maybe Samdy had messaged me. Utter silence.

The same silence that hung around the girl's dorm, the entire school. No one had said a word since Tilly left. Half an hour had passed and there were no explosions, no shouting, no nothing. All we could do was wait for the next name.

Someone grabbed my hand. I jumped up from the couch. "What?!"

Caroline blinked in confusion, her eyes still red from when she had to say goodbye to Ibisan. "Sorry. I just thought…never mind."

I cleared my throat. "Sorry, I'm just…"

"Stressed" Caroline said with a sad smile. "I get it. We all are."

I looked around the common room. Ary sat in the corner on a chair twice her size and kept tapping her feet on the floor. Rose walked in circles, Lilly tried reading a book but hadn't turned a page for twenty minutes. Caroline made some tea for everyone, but no one had touched their cups just yet. The heat rising from them had disappeared.

We were freaking out on the inside, but knew we had to stay strong. Tilly was out there with Jake and our secret weapon called Kai, a.k.a the demon kid.

I sat back down again, locking my phone screen. "I don't want to be the negative Nancy here, but do you guys think they failed?"

Ary's feet stopped tapping. "If they did, we would've known by now."

"How so?" asked Rose, who just kept on walking and turning.

"There would be some kind of disturbance" Ary explained. "Not…this."

Lily closed her book. "Any word from the boys?"

I looked at the dark screen of my phone. "Nope."

Caroline sighed. "Do you guys think-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door to our dorm got blasted away. It was so sudden my phone slipped through my fingers and hit the ground with soft thud. It sounded as if it came from far away. The person that entered the dorm seemed to suck all the attention towards them. Dust swirled around from the door that had just hit the carpet and all we could see was a vague silhouette. When the air cleared, the tallest woman I'd ever seen stood before us. She was wearing this kind of latex suit and goggles that covered half of her face, including her eyes. She had her gloved hands folded into large fists. It wasn't only the magic that hung around her that told us that she was insanely strong.

She took a few steps towards us, and at that point I was closest to her. She looked at each of us individually, her head moved around as if her neck consisted of thousands of wires and wheels, like some kind of robot. Her eyes seemed to literally scan us through the goggles, which made me realize we had a real cyborg amongst us.

I was the last person to be scanned. She lifted her arm, just as strange as her neck did, and pointed her finger at me. "You. Come with me."

It felt like she was squeezing the life out of me. When I stood up, I felt like I was floating above the ground. My feet just weren't there anymore. Me and Caroline locked eyes. She was as pale as a sheet.

I took a few tiny steps towards the cyborg. Before I could blink she'd grabbed my shoulder. Her fingers sunk deep into my skin. I wanted to scream, but only a tiny shriek emerged from my throat. The cyborg headed for the door, dragging me along with her. The pain in my shoulder made me dizzy and I couldn't keep my feet steady on the ground.

I managed to glance over my shoulder one more time before the door closed. Rose held a crying Caroline in her arms, Lilly covered her mouth with her hands, but Ary just stared at me. No motionless stare. The kind of long look you give someone when they know something about you the others don't.

The cyborg started fastening her pace once the door closed behind us. Every step she took felt like a giant leap, as if we were crossing millions of tiny holes in the ground. At one point, we were going so fast my feet didn't touch the ground anymore. I was levitating like a saggy doll. With this speed I felt like all the air was being pushed out of me.

We slowed down just in time. The cyborg didn't let go of me, but I imagine that if she did, I would've fallen on my face. I felt so tired.

We stood in front of a door. At first I didn't recognize it, but then I realized we were on the second floor. I'd never been to Kubo's office, but I did know it was located on the third floor, so I had even less of a clue where we were going. I didn't think asking the crazy lady would help, so I concentrated on getting my breath back.

With one finger the cyborg pushed open the door and pushed me in front of her. My shoulder was gone, it felt like a useless piece of meat attached to my upper arm.

In front of me was a staircase which went down. It didn't make any sense. Why drag me to the second floor, only to go down again?

"Walk" the cyborg commanded. I nodded, as if she needed confirmation that I understood what she was asking me to do and started making me way down.

 **Ibisan**

"Sam?"

I grabbed my friend by his ear and squeezed. He hated it when people touched his ears, but he still didn't respond. He just couldn't stop staring at his phone. We'd asked him to read the text out loud, but he refused. Whatever Ary send him, it screwed him up.

Layton sighed and lunged forward. He took the phone from Sam's fingers, Samdy didn't protest. Layton read the short message. "Shit."

"What is it?"

"They took Sasha" Samdy answered.

"What?"

Layton nodded. "Seems like the plan failed."

I quickly grabbed my phone, but Caroline hadn't messaged me. I hated this, being separated. She just lost her friend. I needed to be there. She might also be next.

Samdy slammed his phone on the small table beside the couch. "Shut up, Layton."

Layton wasn't the kind of guy who got angry that easily, but I could still feel the tension rise in the room. I saw the twins lock eyes with each other, nodding. They would jump in as soon as something went down.

Layton breathed out loudly through his nose. "Why? You were thinking the same thing just twenty minutes ago."

"I said shut up" Samdy repeated. Layton crossed his arms and shook his head. Samdy grunted loudly for some reason, and stood up. We watched as he made his way to the door, but before he could get there I grabbed his shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

Samdy shook my hand off. "I'm gonna get her. I'm gonna get all of them. We're getting out of here now."

His voice sounded very low, almost not like himself. As if someone was squeezing his throat shut.

"Wha…dude, you're not thinking straight. Other people's lives are on the line here, we can't just barge in there."

"Watch me" Samdy grumbled. He put his hand on the doorknob, but as soon as he did that, he got thrown back, as if someone invisible pushed him away. He flew back a few feet and landed on his back.

We were shocked for a few seconds, before rushing towards our friend, who was knocked out cold.

"What the hell…" Floyd mumbled. Samdy's heart was still beating, but his sleep seemed very deep. While the twins and I were carrying Samdy back to the couch, Layton walked over to the door. He didn't touch the doorknob, he just looked at it.

"Is there a wire or something?" I asked. Layton shook his head.

"Nah. Doesn't matter what it is. I just wanna know _why_."

Greg chuckled. "Well, to keep us in here, obviously."

"Yeah, but…" Layton kneeled down, his nose almost touching the doorknob. "Why now? I mean, Kai had no trouble with it. They didn't get electrified."

I shrugged. "Maybe it's because our plan went wrong, that they activated it so we can't cause any more trouble."

Layton sighed. "I don't think so. What if it was all a trap?"

"What?" synchronized the twins.

Layton stood up. "What if they wanted us to do something?"

 **Caroline**

"Damnit!" I threw my phone back on my bed and let myself fall next to it. Ibisan wasn't responding to any of my messages and I was getting worried he might be taken too. And I didn't think I'd be able to cope with that.

There was a knock on the door, and a second later Ary's face appeared. "Can I come in?"

I nodded. I'd much rather be alone, but Ary probably felt as miserable as I did. She sat down next to me, glancing at the phone. "Nothing?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

She nodded. "That's a shame. I can't get through either. Somebody put a spell on the doorknob, maybe it affects the phone signals too."

I sat up, leaning on my elbow. "A spell? What do you think that means?"

Ary shrugged. "They're trying to avoid us from attempting any more schemes against them, of course."

I bit on my lower lip. The whole plan was an absolute disaster. So far we didn't know anything about what was going on in the building. There were no leads as to what their plans were.

Boys and girls were separated. The name calling so far didn't have any logical order, not by name, not by age, nothing. There was no fighting so far, so the possibility of Kai and the rest being dead was big. And Sasha.

"Hey, Care?"

I blinked. "What? Sorry."

Ary lay a hand on my shoulder. "It's alright. We're all freaking out. But don't worry, we'll find a way. We are going to get Sasha back. We'll save everyone, get out of here, and-"

The signal sounded again. Someone coughed into the microphone, it was a different voice than before. An older, lower voice.

"Is this thing on? Hello? Allrigthy, uh….Jacob? Could you come here, please. Quickly."

I jumped up from my bed. I heard footsteps on the stairs leading to my room. Rose and Lily barged in. None of us said a thing. We were too excited, confused, relieved to say a single thing.

The fact they called for Jake meant they hadn't discovered him yet. We still had a chance.

Ary cleared her throat. "Girls, don't get your hopes up. Jake should've started the plan about an hour ago. Something definitely went wrong."

"We need a plan B" Rose said. "First, how do we get out of here?"

Lily glanced at my phone on the bed. "We still can't contact the boys, huh?"

"No" I said, but my voice sounded more like a shriek. Ary took a few steps forward and a few steps back, her eyes focused on the ground. She was thinking, very deeply.

"Someone hand me a paper, please."

I rushed towards my desk and grabbed this random notebook and a pen. Ary took it out of my hands without looking up. She kneeled down, put the paper on the ground and started writing.

"What are you-"

"Shhh!"

Ary stood up when she seemed done and sighed. "Ok. We got a plan. Does anyone have a hammer, or something like that?"


End file.
